February 5, 2013
England

Bolsover: Council reject wind farm bid

Derbyshire Times | 5 February 2013 | www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk

Controversial plans for a wind farm have been rejected by Bolsover District Council – two weeks after the planning meeting was held.

Residents initially believed that application for turbines on Losk Lane had been turned down following a meeting on 18 January.

But the meeting ended in confusion, with the council unable to give a definitive result for a fortnight because of what they described as a ‘procedural error’.

They have now moved to clarify the situation and have confirmed that the application by Banks Renewables has been rejected – despite planning officers recommendation that the application be approved.

Jayson Whitaker of the Palterton and Community Action Group, who fought against the bid, said: “We’re delighted with the outcome.

“I think the whole community is really pleased that councillors have come down on the side of sanity and have listened to the heartfelt representations of the residents.”

Phil Dyke, development director at Banks Renewables, said the firm will be lodging an appeal against the verdict.

“Given that our Losk Lane wind farm planning application was recommended for approval by Bolsover District Council’s officers, we are very disappointed that the Council’s planning committee chose not to support a local company in its attempts to bring a wide range of economic, social, employment and environmental benefits to the area through this scheme,” he said.

“We are confident that this is an entirely-appropriate location for the sort of scheme we’re proposing, and are now taking legal advice about our most appropriate next course of action.”

A Bolsover District Council spokesperson said: “The developers raised concerns about the decision that was taken and due to the sensitive nature of this proposed development we wanted to make sure the decision was made correctly before formally announcing it.

“We have therefore reviewed the taped conversations of the meeting and spoken to the officers who were present and we are in no doubt that the application was rejected and declared at the end of the meeting by the Chairman.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/05/bolsover-council-reject-wind-farm-bid/