February 14, 2012
England

Spaldington villagers braced for new wind farm fight

Hull Daily Mail, www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk 14 February 2012

Residents who raised almost £80,000 to fight plans for two wind farms on their doorstep are bracing themselves for a new battle.

Angry householders at Spaldington, near Howden, have been stunned by proposals for a third wind farm near the small village.

It comes after the battling residents fought off one of two earlier wind farm schemes, with the other getting the go-ahead following a public inquiry.

Now RWE npower renewables has submitted proposals to East Riding Council for eight turbines, which are believed to be 120m high.

Resident Paul Taylor, chairman of Spaldington Turbine Opposition Protest (Stop) group, said: “The village is shell-shocked by the latest proposals. It is going to have a devastating effect on the neighbourhood, especially after another scheme was given the go-ahead for the former Spaldington airfield.

“It is only a matter of months since we fought off plans for seven turbines at Spaldington Common and it is almost as if they were waiting in the wings to apply.”

The latest proposal is for eight turbines on an area of land from Welham Bridge to Gribthorpe, including part of Spaldington parish.

Mr Taylor said: “People are up in arms about this because we thought we had seen the end of wind farm proposals for Spaldington.

“Obviously, it was a hard battle for us the last time and whether we could mount 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 bulldoze these monstrosities through.

“The Government is making huge cuts to local schools and hospitals, but it is prepared to subsidise what are white elephants at the end of the day.”

Villagers say one of their hopes lies with the 100 Conservative MPs, including Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis and East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight, who are campaigning for the £400-million-a-year subsidies paid to the onshore wind turbine industry to be cut.

Wendy McKie, of Spaldington, said: “We are still trying to recover from the two-year fight we had against the two other wind farms.

“The latest proposal has set alarm bells sounding in the village, and we are bracing ourselves for another fight.”

Nobody was available for comment from RWE npower renewables.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/02/14/spaldington-villagers-braced-for-new-wind-farm-fight/