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Villagers battling wind turbines bid
Credit: Leicester Mercury | www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk 23 August 2012 ~~
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People living in a tiny community are fighting plans for two wind turbines in their village.
More than half of the 80 households in Thorpe Satchville, near Melton, are against the plans for the turbines on two neighbouring farms in the village.
The hastily-formed Thorpe- SayNo group hired a supermarket airship to fly at the height of the proposed turbines when planning committee members held a site visit.
Applications to erect a 46m (150ft) turbine on land at Hall Farm and a 77m (252ft) one at Park Farm, both in Klondyke Lane, are being considered by Melton Borough Council.
Protesters claim notices posted around the village about the applications were put up in out-of-the-way places, including farm gates, which were difficult to reach.
The council’s development committee met last Thursday to consider the applications, both of which were recommended for approval by planning officers.
But the protest group mounted a legal challenge, claiming that a proper environmental impact assessment had not been carried out and that the community had not been given a proper say.
After seeking legal advice, the committee agreed to defer the applications until its next meeting on September 13.
Anna Freij, a member of the protest group, said: “The decision gives the committee more time for a proper consultation.
“The notices were put up in places people rarely go so no-one had seen them.
“Wind turbines would be an alien feature which would not respect the landscape.
“We support better forms of energy generation – but in the right place.”
Development committee chairman Councillor Pru Chandler said: “There were a lot of late objections submitted. We consulted an external solicitor who thought it was better to defer it. Allegations were made that the council hadn’t notified people, but the notices were in all the places they should have been.”
The developers behind the Park Farm application on behalf of the landowner, Pure Renewable Energy Ltd, estimate it will power 372 homes.
Phil Cookson, of Aardvark EM Ltd, which is behind the Hall Farm turbine application, said opposition letters were “without substantive evidence” and also “factually incorrect” in a number of cases.
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