August 18, 2012
England

Stanfree turbine campaign ‘We Say No Way’ takes to the skies

www.chad.co.uk 18 August 2012

A blimp airship is to be flown at the height of a proposed wind turbine near Bolsover by an opposition group who claim it will be ‘devastating’ for the landscape.

The four-metre long, helium structure will be flown 67m above the hills near Stanfree, the same height as the turbine prososed by applicants Empirica Investments.

The firm has applied for planning permission from Bolsover District Council to build on land forming part of Damsbrook Farm between Stanfree Cottage and Damsbrook Lane.

But Rob Swift, chairman of the Stanfree Action Group, said the turbine will be visible for miles.

He said last week: “It will be devastating for the landscape. We have no idea of knowing the impact until it goes up, which is why we had the idea for the blimp.

“But we do know it will be visible from miles away. We know because we can see the hills surrounding it from there.”

Another member of the action group, Sarah Poiney, from Clowne Road, Stanfree, said it could ruin the rural landscape for residents, like her father, Mark Brown, who suffered a stroke in 2010 and is recovering at home.

She said: “It’s so beautiful where he lives. He goes and looks out and it really lifts his spirits.

“The turbine would ruin that. It will ruin it for hundreds of other households nearby.”

The group are waiting for approval from the Civil Aviation Authority before they fly the blimp, on land adjacent to the proposed site.

They are inviting residents to send in their snaps of the blimp from their homes when it is erected, to info@wesaynoway.co.uk.

A spokesman from Bolsover District Council said: “It will go to planning in September or October. We can’t comment further until it a planning decision has been made.”

No one from Empirica Investments was available to comment.

The next meeting for We Say No Way will be on 28th August at 6.30pm at Oxcroft Miners’ Welfare.

Visit www.wesaynoway.co.uk for more details.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/18/stanfree-turbine-campaign-we-say-no-way-takes-to-the-skies/