January 23, 2012
England

Energy firm in bid to block turbine

By Gareth Jones, North-West Evening Mail, www.nwemail.co.uk 23 January 2012

An energy company has objected to a wind turbine.

Centrica, which operates the gas terminal at Rampside, has issued a response after being consulted on plans for a turbine at Newholme Farm.

Applicant Phillip Pearson has submitted plans to build a 54.5m high turbine at the farm in Rampside Road, Barrow.

The plans were received last summer and Barrow Borough Council has been consulting local residents on the plans.

And a potential barrier has been placed in front of the development by Centrica, which has objected to the plans.

A spokesman for Centrica said the objection had been lodged due to safety concerns about the proposed development.

He said: “Obviously we are a company that invests heavily in wind energy, and we have no objections with wind terminals or turbines.

“The objection is a concern that if a turbine was to be built in close proximity of the Roose terminal then there could be safety issues.

“If a blade was to come off, and that has been seen before and has happened elsewhere in the world, then it could cause safety issues.

“The way we operate as a company is that we need to think about what could happen.

“If a turbine were to be built in such close proximity to the terminal, and a blade flew across the road, then it could land very closely to what is a sensitive site.”

In October, residents of Rampside raised their concerns about the turbine and others proposed for the area and Councillor Ray Guselli called for the safety concerns to be taken into consideration.

He said: “I think one of the issues is that the council needs to take account of the safety concerns.

“There has been cases of blades flying off, and I have compiled a lot of evidence of cases where blades have been damaged or have come off.”

In a statement prepared as part of the application process Sally Bowdler from CMS UK said that careful consideration has been taken in selecting the site.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/23/energy-firm-in-bid-to-block-turbine/