August 13, 2012
England

Ipswich: Pledge from company in turbine row

By Paul Geater | East Anglian Daily Times | www.eadt.co.uk 13 August 2012

The company hoping to build a pair of wind turbines on farmland at the south of the town has insisted they would only cause minimal disruption to residents.

Partnerships for Renewables is working with Ipswich council, which owns the land between Pinewood and Belstead, to see whether the site would be suitable for a pair of turbines.

Alice Gill from the firm said tests were still continuing, and no planning application would be submitted until the end of the year at the earliest.

Protesters from Belstead and Pinewood have pointed to problems with two turbines at Kessingland near Lowestoft – but Ms Gill said the turbines here would be very different.

She said: “The turbines at Kessingland are much closer to people than they would be here at Ipswich. Those ones are nothing to do with us, but I know there have been problems with flicker that we will be addressing as an important issue.”

The proposals have prompted the establishment of a group opposed to the development – Stop Ipswich Turbines (SIT).

Partnerships for Renewables was set up by the Carbon Trust to work with public sector organisations to identify sites for potential turbines.

Ipswich council identified five sites that it owned – but the land between Belstead and Pinewood (which is in Babergh district) was the only one that was suitable. Ms Gill said: “We are talking to Belstead Parish Council and hope to speak to Pinewood in the very near future and hopefully we will ease their concerns.”

Surveys showed that between 70 and 80 per cent of people were in favour of using wind energy, although there was often local concern when developments were proposed.

She added: “Some people simply don’t like the look of wind turbines and there is little we can do about that – it is subjective – but most people are in favour of this type of power.”

The exact size and look of the turbines still has not been decided – but the company hopes they would develop almost 11GW of power – enough to supply electricity to 2,450 homes.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/13/ipswich-pledge-from-company-in-turbine-row/