October 5, 2012
England

MPs Dan Byles and Christopher Pincher join forces in fight against wind turbines

Tamworth Herald | www.thisistamworth.co.uk 4 October 2012

Local MPs Dan Byles and Christopher Pincher have joined forces to fight proposals for a wind turbine near to the service station at junction 10 of the M42.

The two politicians have written to their respective borough councils to say that they do not believe more wind farm applications are right for the local area.

The application for development sits right on the border between Tamworth Borough Council and North Warwickshire District Council.

The first turbine application was lodged with North Warwickshire council but when this was opposed, an application for a ‘test mast’ was lodged on the Tamworth side of the border.

The MPs say that they believe that the developer may lodge another application for a full wind turbine in the future on the service station land either in North Warwickshire or Tamworth, but affecting both areas.

Dan Byles said: “I am concerned that our area, where different planning authorities covering North Warwickshire, Tamworth, Lichfield and North West Leicestershire meet, risks being overbuilt with wind turbines which are not economically sensible nor popular with local people who have to pay for them through their energy bills. We really need to call a halt to this sort of development.”

Christopher Pincher added: “Both Dan and I sit on the Energy Select Committee in Parliament and take a keen interest in renewable energy.

“But we have real concerns about the economic viability of many on-shore wind proposals and the subsidy required to support them which comes out of the pockets of hard-pressed households.

“So we want a considered view of green energy policy and we want local councils like Tamworth and North Warwickshire to reflect on local concerns about unsightly and expensive turbines.”

The pair say they have received many complaints from local residents opposed to wind turbine development.

They were also among the 102 MPs that wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this year calling for a review of on-shore wind energy policy.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/10/05/mps-dan-byles-and-christopher-pincher-join-forces-in-fight-against-wind-turbines/