May 10, 2013
England

Energy firm to appeal against Pilrow wind farm rejection

Alex Evans, Reporter | Friday, May 10, 2013 | www.thewestonmercury.co.uk

The developers behind proposals to build a wind farm have lodged an appeal against Sedgemoor District Council’s refusal of its Pilrow application.

Broadview Energy had its plans to construct four 130m turbines between Rooksbridge and Mark rejected by the authority last month.

The firm has now launched an appeal with the Government’s Planning Inspectorate, claiming the power-generating turbines are needed to help meet the country’s energy demands.

Broadview claims the turbines would generate enough electricity to power 7,560 homes.

Tom Cosgrove, project manager for the company, said: “We continue to believe that the Pilrow site is an excellent location for a wind farm of the size proposed.

“Sedgemoor’s refusal of this application has come at a time when new electricity-generating infrastructure is needed more than ever.

“The country continues to face a serious and ever closer energy gap and if the right decisions are not made now there will simply not be enough power to go around.

“Therefore, it is important that decision makers are fully aware of and afford appropriate weight to the country’s ambition to increase its green energy supply and keep the lights on.

“We have carefully reviewed the reasons for refusal provided by Sedgemoor Council and feel that the most appropriate course of action is to seek a decision through the planning appeal process.”

However, news of the appeal has not gone down well with members of campaign group NoPilrow.

Spokesman David Maund said: “It would appear that the project manager is basing the appeal on the need to ‘keep the lights on’. This is a complete farce.

“Obviously he has no answer to the genuine grounds of refusal submitted by the Sedgemoor planners.

“During the recent severe spring cold spell lasting over a month, and to a certain extent still with us, electrical energy supplied by wind farms throughout the UK amounted to an average of less than 25 per cent of their potential output and at times for considerable periods was reduced to less than two per cent of possible output.

“Wind energy will never do anything to ‘keep the lights on’ because of their inefficiency and intermittent output.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/05/10/energy-firm-to-appeal-against-pilrow-wind-farm-rejection/