January 10, 2013
England

Wind turbine plan divides the parish

West Briton | January 10, 2013 | www.thisiscornwall.co.uk

The row over a proposed wind turbine in a village near Truro has escalated.

Backers of the community turbine in Ladock have now put in a planning application, but opponents said their research showed it was unwanted.

The Low Carbon Ladock co-operative and Green Trust Community Interest Company have put forward plans for the installation of the 76m turbine in Ladock. They had previously carried out a survey of parish residents showing 56 per cent of 308 people who responded were in favour of it.

But opponents have carried out their own simplified survey which they say shows a very different picture.

Sally Taylor said when parishioners were presented with a ‘yes/no’ option, out of the 57 per cent of people in Ladock village who responded, 90 per cent were against the wind turbine. Overall in the wider parish a total of 74 per cent of those responding voted against the plans.

Chris Jones, from Low Carbon Ladock, said the proposals would be good for the environment and the community.

He said: “Before submitting the application we carried out a survey where we asked local residents what was important to them in terms of how the community will spend the revenue.

“Wind power is happening in Cornwall. How it happens though is something we all have a choice in.”

The groups in favour of the turbine said it would generate about a third of the electricity used each year by homes and businesses in the parish and at least £30,000 per year for the local community.

Mr Jones said: “Either we leave it to outside investors or we create more community projects, like Low Carbon Ladock, where the money will stay in the local area and help people and groups who need it most.”

But Mrs Taylor said the issue had “divided the community” with a majority people against the plans.

She said: “Results speak for themselves as 74 per cent of voters say a resounding no to the wind turbine. If this turbine goes ahead it cannot possibly be called a community project when it divides the community.”

The application will now be examined by Cornwall Council.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/01/10/wind-turbine-plan-divides-the-parish/