November 27, 2012
England

Wind turbine could disrupt radar says MoD

Driffield Times & Post | 26 November 2012 | www.driffieldtoday.co.uk

Proposals to site a 45m high wind turbine on land at Kilham are facing a welter of opposition.

The village parish council say the height of the proposed turbine on land north of the allotments at Back Lane will make it overly dominant and the visual impact will be out of keeping so close to the village.

Councillors also fear that allowing a turbine so close to the village would set an unacceptable precedent for other applications.

Planning officials on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council are also against the scheme.

They have recommended that a planning application should be refused when it goes for decision to the eastern area planning sub committee next Monday.

A report to the committee said: “As a result of the proposed turbine’s scale and location, it will have a dominant and unacceptable impact upon the sensitive landscape associated with the Wolds.

“The surrounding landscape is considered to be of high landscape value and its special character has added significance as a result of historic context.”

Harrison Farmers Ltd have applied to build a wind turbine 30m high to the hub and 45m high to the blade tip. The blade diameter would be 29m.

It would be close to the edge of the village and within 600m of development limits, and there are a number of homes closer to the turbine site, which stands in open countryside on the south facing slope of a hill.

The applicants said that they proposed to provide a community fund from the profits of the turbine for the benefit of the Kilham Playing Field Association, providing a contribution towards the running costs of the playing field. This would be a private agreement and was not part of the planning application.

The Ministry of Defence has also objected to the scheme as the turbine would cause “unacceptable interference to the AD radar at Staxton Wold.”

The MoD said: “Trials carried out in 2005 concluded that wind turbines can have detrimental effects on the operation of radar in the vicinity of the turbines and the creation of false aircraft returns. The probability of the radar detecting aircraft flying over of in the vicinity of the turbines would be reduced and the RAF would be unable to provide full air surveillance in the area of the proposed wind farm.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/11/27/wind-turbine-could-disrupt-radar-says-mod/