November 18, 2011
England

Council opposes turbine and blast-risk gas tanks

Hunts Post, www.huntspost.co.uk 17 November 2011

Fenstanton does not want a 77-metre wind turbine within metres of its boundary, its parish council decided last week. Nor does its want 37 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas stored above ground at the same chicken farm beside the A14.

With two abstentions from councillors who said they had inadequate information, the council resolved to advise planners at Huntingdonshire District Council to refuse planning consent for the turbine and hazardous substances consent for the LPG tanks at Galley Hill Farm, Hemingford Grey, beside junction 26 of the A14.

Fenstanton resident Ian Taylor, a former chairman of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration, told The Hunts Post last week that his Fenstanton Manor home would act as a blast wall for the LPG tanks if they exploded.

And former parish council chairman Dr Bob Henderson said the tanks were “causing a lot of alarm and despondency”.

He added: “LPG is highly explosive. The chances are remote but, if it happened, it would take out most of the traffic on the A14 and much of the village. It should not be stored above ground – a lorry backing into the site could take it out.

“For the sake of [the families that live closest to it] we cannot let this go without making a fuss.”

Cllr Colin Saunderson said it had been reported to him that the applications were highly unlikely to be approved by HDC.

“I would be more likely to support the turbine if it were lower,” he told the meeting. “But the LPG really does concern me.”

The council resolved to oppose the applications on the grounds of danger from the gas tanks, the height and potential distraction of the turbine and the impact on Fenstanton’s conservation area.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/18/council-opposes-turbine-and-blast-risk-gas-tanks/