Wind turbine plans thrown out

Credit: By Phil Coleman, News & Star, www.newsandstar.co.uk 14 June 2012 ~~

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Allerdale councillors have turned down plans to build a 112ft high wind turbine at Kirkbride near Wigton.

The application, from the owners of GW Rudd Motor Engineering, was rejected after council officers said its visual effect for some local residents would have been “oppressive and harmful”.

There were 26 letters of objection, and opposition also from environmental health officials, who said the turbine would not have met regulations designed to keep down noise pollution.

Officials also said that there had been insufficient information about the potential safety impact on the nearby Kirkbride Airfield and on nature conservation, particularly the local bat population.

Documents published by Allerdale Council show that Wigton’s town council also objected to the turbine proposal after expressing concerns about “low frequency noise” and the potential harm to health and sleep patterns of locals.

Among the other reasons cited by opponents to the scheme were:

Noise from construction traffic;
The effect on locals of turbine shadow flicker;
The impact on wildlife, including bats, birds, and small mammals;
The potential devaluation of local properties;
And the effect on the local model aircraft club.

In their conclusions about the application, planning officers said: “The proposal, by virtue of its scale and location, would constitute a prominent and incongruous feature within the locality of the site, which would be oppressive and harmful to the visual amenity of the occupiers of Brooklyn, Kirkbride.”

The document points out that there were no objections from the RSPB, or Natural England, which concluded there would be no impact on local bird species.

Natural England did, however, suggest relocating the turbine to a place further from a nearby hedgerow to reduce the risk of bat strikes on the rotating turbine blades.

Councillors turned down the application at their meeting this week.

Source: By Phil Coleman, News & Star, www.newsandstar.co.uk 14 June 2012

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