May 21, 2012
England

Villagers out in force against wind farm

www.cambridge-news.co.uk 21 May 2012

Villagers drummed up support – in the form of 200 people – against controversial plans to build wind farms.

They turned up at a public meeting held by the Stop Litlington Wind Farm Action Group, in the village hall.

The meeting was held to hear the views of residents in response to a planning application submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council for five turbines on farmland in the village.

Philip Jones, of the action group, said: “I think we had more than 200 people there, so it was standing room only.

“I don’t think we could have got any more people in the hall if we tried – it was extremely packed.”

The meeting, which lasted about three hours, opened with a short film by Nigel Spence, a film producer who has spent four years filming across the world how wind farms have affected the lives of local residents.

This was followed by a talk by Chris Hanning, a retired consultant in sleep disorder medicine, who has published research on the impact of wind turbine noise and in particular its effect on sleep and health.

Mr Jones added: “People are very concerned about these plans. I think the overall feeling amongst people was that this is just an inappropriate place for them to be built. That is the message that seemed to resonate at the meeting.

“We had a long question-and-answer session and I was prepared for opposing views, but there were no dissenting voices at all.”

The meeting also heard a speech by Mike Barnard, a wind farm consultant and veteran of about 30 opposition campaigns.

The turbines will next be discussed at Litlington Parish Council’s planning meeting on Tuesday, May 29.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/21/villagers-out-in-force-against-wind-farm/