June 8, 2012
England

High Court overturns planning consent for three Northumberland windfarms

By Kirsty Smyth, The Berwick Advertiser, www.berwick-advertiser.co.uk 8 June 2012

Planning consents for three individual wind turbines in Northumberland have been overturned by the High Court.

On February 2 this year Northumberland County Council’s north area planning committee approved applications for turbines at Wark Common, Brackenside and New Haggerston.

There were many detailed objections to the Wark Common (71 metres to blade tip) and nearby Brackenside (47 metres to blade tip) proposals from local people regarding the poor quality of these applications, which had been accepted by planning officers. Residents also felt there were issues with the way the applications were handled.

There were also concerns north of the Border, particularly in relation to the Wark Common turbine, which would have been visible from parts of Berwickshire.

One objector, Andrew Joicey, who has campaigned for several years against “inappropriate” wind development in Northumberland, volunteered to head up a legal challenge by applying to the High Court for a Judicial Review of the decisions.

On receiving his claim, Northumberland County Council conceded that proper procedure had not been followed in a number of instances and agreed that “the only correct course of action would be for the Court to quash all three of the decisions”.

The High Court issued a Consent Order on June 6 ordering that the three decisions to grant planning permission be quashed, and that the Council should pay Mr Joicey’s costs.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/06/08/high-court-overturns-planning-consent-for-three-northumberland-windfarms/