September 29, 2012
England

Fenrother wind farm opponents submit formal objection

by David Black, The Journal | Sep 29 2012 | www.journallive.co.uk

Families fighting a proposed wind farm have found a novel way to show the strength of local opposition to the plans.

The people living at Fenrother, near Morpeth, have submitted a forest of material to council planning officials aimed at showing the strength of local opposition and highlighting flaws in the controversial application.

But at more than 71,000 words explaining their objections and what they say are “mistakes and flaws” in the application from developers Energiekontor, the objection document is actually longer than many great works of literature.

Locals say about 1,000 letters of objection have now been sent to the council – and also point to the results of a recent survey carried out by Tritlington and West Chevington Parish Council, which revealed 84% opposition to the wind farm.

The parish surveyed 123 people, 103 of whom said they were against the scheme.

Dr James Lunn, who lives in Fenrother and is a leading member of the action group, said the letters and survey proved Energiekontor was wrong in claiming opponents of the scheme were a small minority.

He said: “We believe our objection is a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the application, which points out hundreds of anomalies and gives sound reasons why it should be thrown out.

“We believe there will be 1,000 objection letters submitted to the council, whereas Energiekontor employed pro-wind farm campaigners to go on to the streets of Morpeth and ask people to sign a standard letter in support of their application.”

Energiekontor spokesman Sam Dewar said more than 300 letters of support had been sent to the council.

“If the application stands up on its own planning merits, as we believe it does, it will generate enough power for at least 7,900 homes.”

Next week the county council’s planning and environment committee is expected to agree to hold a site visit and a public meeting prior to making any decision on the Energiekontor application.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/09/29/fenrother-wind-farm-opponents-submit-formal-objection/