April 26, 2012
England

Wind farm plan ‘is insensitive’

Ruth Norris, Royston Weekly News, www.cambridge-news.co.uk 26 April 2012

Plans for five wind turbines in Litlington are “insensitive and unsuit-able”, say an action group.

Stop Litlington Wind Farm action group has responded to the planning application submitted to South Camb-ridgeshire District Council for five turbines on farmland in the village.

The application is now available for residents’ responses.

Phil Jones, of the action group, said: “If ever there was an application that illustrates what the minister for climate change recently referred to as ‘installations in insensitive or unsuitable locations – too close to houses’ then this would be it.

“Our analysis clearly shows that the development would cause lasting damage to the landscape and the quality of lives of local residents in return for a pitiful amount of hopelessly intermittent and expensive energy.”

The action group says it encourages residents to respond to the application.

Mr Jones added: “With local support, we can stop the industrialisation of our rural landscape and preserve our cherished local community and quality of life for current and future generations.”

If the plans are approved by the council, applicant Ralph Parker will build the turbines at his farm in Royston Road in the village.

The installation will include five turbines of up to 100m tall, a 60m tower, a substation, transformers and access tracks.

The application states each three-bladed turbine would produce enough energy for 4,980 homes in the region.

It admits there would be a visual impact on nearby homes, visitors to Therfield Heath, as well as walkers, motorists and rail users in the area, but that this would be outweighed by the environ-mental benefits.

It states: “The proposal will make an important cont-ribution to both regional and national renewable energy targets to which considerable weight should be given.

“Together with the benefits of the proposal in terms of reduced emissions, embedded generation and significant nature conservation and economic benefits, these factors provide compelling evidence that the benefits of the proposal substantially outweigh any perceived adverse effects on landscape, visual amenity and cultural heritage.”

:: The action group will be holding a public meeting on Thursday, May 17, at 7.30pm at Litlington Village Hall to discuss the proposals.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/04/26/wind-farm-plan-is-insensitive/