January 6, 2012
England

Anger over turbines plans near Saltend

Yorkshire Post, www.yorkshirepost.co.uk 6 January 2012

More than 100 people have objected to plans to build two turbines standing 85m high on the outskirts of east Hull.

Countryside Solutions is applying for permission from East Riding Council to build the two masts which will be closest to the Greatfield estate just 0.5km away and just over 2kms from the village of Preston.

The closest properties to one of the masts would be at Dodswell Grove on Greatfield.

The application has sparked 130 objections, as well as those from two parish councils and Hedon Town Council, including concerns over the visual impact and noise.

People say the installation on prime agricultural land will blur the divide between the city and the countryside and that the turbines are too close to properties, given European guidelines which state that turbines should be 2km away from homes.

There are also complaints that turbines don’t bring economic benefits as they are manufactured in Europe and don’t create local employment.

The turbines are earmarked for a site west of Staithes Road, near a 76m high turbine built at Yorkshire Water’s waste treatment plant.

Planners back the proposals, saying that although regional targets for renewable energy for the East Riding for 2021 have already been met or exceeded “recent wind farm planning appeals within the East Riding have demonstrated that the regional targets are indicative only and should be considered as a floor rather than a ceiling.”

They say the turbines will be seen in a landscape which includes the two massive cooling towers and sprawling chemicals complex at Salt End.

A report to a planning meeting next Thursday claims the development won’t have any “significant harmful impact on the general amenities of the area, including the private residential amenities of individual properties.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/06/anger-over-turbines-plans-near-saltend/