December 3, 2011
England

Protests blow up over wind turbine

The Citizen, www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk 3 December 2011

Protests have begun to blow up after a farmer bid for permission to put up a wind turbine near Berkeley.

Objections from nearby residents have been lodged with the Stroud District Council’s local planning authority following landowner Andrew Pearce’s application for the windmill south of Sanigar Farms in Hamfallow.

The opponents, from Berkeley Vale Park, have complained to the council that the turbine, which would be 75 metres tall at its hub, would be an “ugly monstrosity” spoiling the view and might cause “constant noise”.

Sanigar Farms are also at the heart of an idea for a sustainable new 2,000 home eco-town, which could be powered by either solar and domestic windpower, or by a commercial wind turbine.

Agents for Mr Pearce said, however, that the current windmill scheme was for only his farming business.

The suggested site was also slightly south of the suggested eco-town land, spokesman Paul Fong said.

So far there have been two complaints to the wind turbine proposal, which was put in a fortnight ago.

They relate to fears of a “constant hum” and that it would “spoil the view” from their homes.

Former mayor of Berkeley Val Watts said residents felt the community did not have the infrastructure to support huge new estates at Sanigar.

“We have lost our secondary school and police station, the hospital closes this weekend, there’s a big question mark over the library and our primary school is bursting at the seams,” she said.

The public are about to be consulted on an allocation of 250 new homes for Sharpness, also close to Berkeley, made when the district council agreed its Core Strategy for future housing sites.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/12/03/protests-blow-up-over-wind-turbine/