October 1, 2012
England

Turbine fears if one plan gets in

Lancashire Evening Press | 1 October 2012 | www.lep.co.uk

People living close to three planned wind turbines fear they could be hit by a wave of plans if one is accepted.

Three applications are currently being considered by planners on South Ribble Council with farmers bidding to generate enough energy to power their business.

The first, submitted by salad grower Paul Coxhead on Parker Lane at Whitestake, is set to be thrown out by the authority’s planning committee after complaints it would interfere with the radar at nearby defence giant, BAE Systems.

It has received 436 letters of objection to the plans with fears ranging from the impact on local wildlife to fears a blade from may come off.

Helen Crossley, who lives on Startley Nook, closest to the proposed application, said she feared allowing one of the proposals would “open the floodgates” for further turbines.

She said: “There are a lot of people around here who have enough land to be able to build one of these turbines and, if one gets the go ahead, there will be plenty of others looking to get one.

“It is not just the fact we are building further into our green belt, there are health risk with research showing a risk to people within two kilometres of a turbine due to the noise of the blades causing sleep disturbance.

“If this is accepted, my house is 350m from one.”

Mr Coxhead said the 34.2-metre high turbine would save his business, JC’s Country Fresh Produce, £2m a year in electricity bills.

A further two applications, at Chestnut Farm, Little Hoole, and Moss House Farm at Much Hoole, are both less than three miles from the Parker Lane application.

Cathy Roper, a spokesman for the Protect Little Hoole group, said she feared the impact on the landscape of the area would be “brutal.”

She said: “These turbines are only viable because of the huge subsidies they are given, so ultimately it is the taxpayer which is paying to bring these people’s electricity bills down.”

The Parker Lane application has been recommended for refusal to the planning committee by South Ribble Council, which meets on Wednesday night.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/10/01/turbine-fears-if-one-plan-gets-in/