November 14, 2012
England

Villagers protest against Alvington wind turbine

The Citizen | 14 November 2012 | www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

Residents in Aylburton are up in arms over plans to build a 283-foot wind turbine on the edge of their historic village.

Members of the community are furious at the scale of the development in neighbouring Alvington Court Farm. They have formed the protest group Aylburton Says No.

Representatives from the Resilience Centre who want to build the turbine and Aylburton Parish Council were at a debate earlier this month where concern was raised over its proximity to homes.

Protesters demanded the council objects to the proposal, saying the background noise and ‘flicker’ caused by the blades is unacceptable. The overwhelming concern was the impact it would have on the landscape.

Campaigner John Ridley said: “We are in favour of all forms of renewable energy but there are a great number of people distressed by this proposal and a strong community feeling that the size of such a development would be inappropriate for the village and locality.”

He added there had been no consultation with the village or the parish council, something which has been denied by Resilience Centre.

This group was formed four years ago by Sue and Andrew Clarke with the purpose of inviting residents to invest in turbines each generating energy for up to 300 homes.

Mrs Clarke said: “We presented the plan to the parish council in April and a few weeks later carried out a public exhibition, from which the feedback was overwhelmingly positive including support from many of the closest residents.

“We feel the negative stance of Aylburton and Alvington Parish Councils are unrepresentative. For example the Aylburton Parish Plan which surveyed all households in the parish reported 61 per cent were in favour of wind turbines. We have worked hard with local farmers including in St Briavels to help generate power for the communities in the Forest.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/11/14/villagers-protest-against-alvington-wind-turbine/