December 11, 2012
England

Objections over rubbish turbine

By Winnie Agbonlahor | Nottingham Post | December 11, 2012 | www.thisisnottingham.co.uk

Calverton Parish Council has hit out after council officers have recommended the approval of a 24.5-metre micro wind turbine at a closed landfill site.

FCC Environment, which is in charge of the now closed Burnstump Landfill Site, off the A614 Ollerton Road, asked Gedling Borough Council for permission to build the turbine to produce power for pumps used at the site.

The company said the wind turbine, which can generate up to 11KW of electricity to pump leachate – liquid produced from rubbish processing – will save 13 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.

Officers have recommended councillors grant planning permission and will make a decision at a planning meeting tomorrow at 6pm.

Calverton Parish Council, which was consulted on the proposals, objects as it says the turbine would be in the greenbelt and close to a proposed Special Protection Area for nightjars.

Parish council chairman Nick Quilty said: “Calverton Parish Council is extremely disappointed that Gedling Borough Council still has no sensible, sustainable zoning policy in place for wind turbines.

“Turbines are rapidly and seemingly indiscriminately popping up all over the countryside.

“It is proposed that this particular turbine is located in green belt very close to a proposed Special Protection Area for the internationally rare nightjar bird and this is cause for additional concern about the suitability of the site.”

The county council, which was also consulted, said the proposed turbine would be “inappropriate development in the greenbelt”, but that the applicant had demonstrated “very special circumstances required to justify inappropriate development in the greenbelt”.

The report that will go before tomorrow’s meeting also says “very special circumstances have been demonstrated which outweigh the potential harm to the openness of the green belt.”

These “special circumstances” include the production of renewable energy and the wider environmental benefits of the pumps.

FCC Environment said there were no outstanding wildlife objections from Natural England, the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust or Notts County Council’s Ecology team.

Gedling Borough Council declined to comment before a decision is made. For more details search for application reference 2012/0840.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/12/11/objections-over-rubbish-turbine/