February 13, 2012
England

Villagers’ shock over wind farm plans

Yorkshire Post, www.yorkshirepost.co.uk 13 February 2012

Villagers who won a partial victory against wind farm developers last year have a new fight on their hands after proposals for another massive scheme emerged.

Campaigners in Spaldington – population 130 – spent two and a half years and nearly £80,000 fighting two wind farm applications – one of which got the go-ahead on appeal last October.

They have been left “shellshocked” after RWE npower renewables submitted proposals to East Riding Council for an eight-turbine wind farm, north-east of Spaldington, called “River Valley Wind Farm”. The application came days after the planning committee agreed to a wind measuring mast going up on site.

Paul Taylor, who was the chairman of Spaldington Turbine Opposition Protest group, said: “It is going to have a devastating effect on the neighbourhood.

“It is only a matter of months since we fought off the last one; it is almost as if they were waiting in the wings to apply.

“Obviously it was a hard battle for us last time and whether we could up that sort of fight this time I don’t know, but we are certainly not going to take it lying down.

“The biggest frustration for us is the planning system is so loaded – it doesn’t matter how many valid reasons there are the Government will just bulldoze these monstrosities through. The Government are making huge cutbacks to local schools and hospitals but they are prepared to subsidise what is a white elephant at the end of the day.”

Mr Taylor said his hope lay in the 100 Conservative MPs, including local MP David Davis, who are campaigning for the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the onshore wind turbine industry to be cut.

Numbers of turbines in Yorkshire are set to triple. Howdenshire councillor Paul Robinson said: “Until they are constructed noone will see the scale of it and by that time the invasion is upon us and it is an invasion we can’t turn back once they are here.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/02/13/villagers-shock-over-wind-farm-plans/