January 8, 2012
England

Wind farm rage amid solar blow

Milton Keynes Citizen, www.miltonkeynes.co.uk 6 January 2012

A wind turbine scheme opposed by three councils, MPs and hundreds of residents has been given the go ahead by a planning inspector.

The decision to allow the dozen 400ft high turbines near Lavendon has been described a “blatant slap in the face for localism” by city MP Mark Lancaster.

The wind farm will overshadow villages in three counties but the inspector ruled the need for renewable energy outweighed the damage to the landscape.

Now this has fuelled a cry of unfair play from campaigners for the less intrusive solar energy industry – which is currently reeling from hefty government Feed-In Tariff cuts.

“It seems that wind farms are the flavour of the day with the government, probably because the companies that build them make a huge amount of money,” said Ian Hornblow, a director of Ecohouse Solar.

“Solar photovoltaic panels are nowhere near as obtrusive and they generate just as much energy – but they save far more money for the actual householder,” he added

Already Milton Keynes Council has mounted a legal challenge to test the Nun Wood turbines ruling in the High Court.

They will claim the inspector’s decision was against the new Localism Bill, which came into effect immediately after the appeal.

Meanwhile Milton Keynes Labour parliamentary spokesperson Andrew Pakes is urging the government to re-think its solar support.

“As a new city we should be at the forefront of creating green jobs and growth, but these cuts to Feed-in Tariffs will hit families, put thousands of jobs at risk and threaten the solar industry,” he said.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/08/wind-farm-rage-amid-solar-blow/