June 17, 2013
England

Battle against wind turbines

By Harry Hogger | Dorset Echo | 17th June 2013 | www.dorsetecho.co.uk

Campaigners battling against plans for a wind farm near Tolpuddle are urging more people to support their stance.

The committee of TAINT – Tolpuddle against Industrial Turbines – are putting on an open day at Waterston Manor on Sunday, June 23.

The event will run from 10am to 5pm and will offer a chance to view the private gardens while there will also be around 20 stands offering specialist plants and the Anonymous Travelling Market with an array of crafts and gifts as well as a food stand and cream teas.

The day will also be a chance to find out more about the campaign and the issues involved, with TAINT preparing posters to show the manor set against a landscape featuring the turbines.

Katherine Butler, owner of Waterston Manor near Puddletown, said: “It’s quite a provocative picture but we wanted to shake people into action.”

There will be a question and answer session on the wind farm at 12.30pm and at 2pm representatives from the Thomas Hardy Society will be talking about Waterston Manor’s role in Far from the Madding Crowd.

Funds raised on the day will help the TAINT group pay for various expert reports commissioned to support their fight against the wind farm.

The TAINT campaign was set up by villagers angry at proposals by West Coast Energy to erect nine turbines standing 126.5metres tall to the north of Tolpuddle.

Over 1,000 representations have already been made in relation to the planning application submitted to West Dorset District Council this year as residents fear for the impact on the local landscape.

TAINT member Rob Ellett said: “It is unimaginable that such a project could be approved when the West Dorset plan says that the local authority has a statutory requirement to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest it possesses.”

For more information about the TAINT campaign visit taint.org.uk The group is also urging people to check out the details of the planning application submitted to West Dorset District Council at dorsetforyou.com and have their say on the proposal.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/06/17/battle-against-wind-turbines/