December 6, 2011
England

Green light for 34m wind turbine

Spalding Guardian, www.spaldingtoday.co.uk 6 December 2011

Another wind turbine will be installed near Deeping St Nicholas after being given the green light by councillors.

The 34.2 metre high “small scale” turbine belonging to N Woodroffe and Sons will help power Bell Bush Farm in Hop Pole.

Despite objections from nearby residents, the plans were approved last week by South Holland District Council’s planning committee.

Before the vote, councillors heard from Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council chairman Coun Geraldine Scholes, on behalf of the objectors, who claimed the turbine will have a visual and cumulative impact on the area.

Coun Scholes urged the committee to consider the High Court case involving the wind farm at nearby Deeping St Nicholas and referred them to the authority’s own Supplementary Planning Guidance, which states the village is unsuitable for wind turbines.

“A big concern is if this application is allowed, then no doubt this committee may allow others to go through too,” she added.

The hearing took place the day before a public announcement was made revealing a settlement had been made into the High Court case over an alleged noise nuisance at the eight-turbine commercial wind farm at Deeping St Nicholas.

Coun Bob Creese told his fellow councillors he thought they were all “pro” renewable energy but questioned the cumulative impact of the proposed turbine.

He said: “It makes me wonder how many we have to wait for. Do we say two more, three more, four more before a decision on this. We saw it with homes of multiple occupancy with terraced housing into flats and we did see the character of the area being changed.”

However, the council’s planning officers said they had followed the national guidance on the issue.

Planning manager Paul Jackson added: “We are no noise experts and do not pretend to be but we are governed by those who are.”

Councillors heard the turbine would be 160 metres from the nearest property boundary and had its hub height reduced from 35.4 metres to 24.6 metres following concerns from the Ministry of Defence in an earlier application.

Coun Howard Johnson said he thought impact on the landscape would be minimal: “In terms of scale, it’s fairly small scale.”

The scheme was passed seven votes to four.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/12/06/green-light-for-34m-wind-turbine/