June 5, 2013
England

Kiln Pit Hill: Windfarm complaints not taken seriously, say protesters

By ROSALIND SAUL | Hexham Courant | 05 June 2013 | www.hexhamcourant.co.uk

Villagers are continuing to protest about the level of noise created by the Kiln Pit Hill windfarm.

At a recent Shotley Low Quarter Parish Council residents from the affected wards, which includes Unthank village, questioned whether Northumberland County Council was taking their complaints seriously.

Tests on noise levels and shadow flicker from the six turbines have been undertaken by developers RWE npower Renewables.

But residents dispute the results – which showed they were within the criteria set by the county council.

At the meeting local county councillor Colin Horncastle reported on a meeting between developers and planning officers, arranged by Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman, to discuss the results.

He said that while RWE had carried out noise tests to the correct standards, officers were still keen for an independent survey to be carried out on the site.

“As far as the county council’s planning department is concerned, it has not received enough data from RWE yet to see if it is complying with planning conditions,” he said.

“It has ended up in the firing line for not taking notice of residents, but actually there has been an awful lot of work behind the scenes.

“RWE did sound quite reasonable – everything it has done is backed up – so I have no reason to doubt what it has said.

“However, there is a need for further monitoring.”

Andy Thompson, from Unthank, said that RWE had not carried out a thorough investigation and not all residents’ questions had been addressed.

He argued RWE had not taken into account the close proximity of certain homes near the site, including Grey Mare Hill Fields which he claimed could have been deliberately overlooked when the development was being considered more than seven years ago.

“Our lives have been blighted by this,” he said.

“We’ve not got answers from Northumberland County Council; the whole thing has been a bit of a mess.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/06/05/kiln-pit-hill-windfarm-complaints-not-taken-seriously-say-protesters/