September 12, 2013
England

Industrial scale wind farm would ruin Litlington, say councillors

Written by LUCY ROSS-MILLAR | Royston Weekly News | 12 September 2013 | www.cambridge-news.co.uk

A “conservation” village full of little thatched cottages could be “ruined” by a proposed industrial scale wind farm.

Chairman of Litlington Parish Council, Alan Pipe, says there are concerns that noise from the five 100 metre turbines could cause sleepless nights for villagers.

Each turbine would be taller than London’s Big Ben and more than six times the height of Litlington Church tower.

Highfield Wind Energy Limited submitted a planning application to South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) for the wind farm, on land at Highfield Farm, west of Royston Road, Litlington, in March last year.

Speaking on behalf of the parish council, Mr Pipe said: “If the windfarm were to go ahead there wouldn’t be many places where we wouldn’t be able to see the turbines from.

“We wouldn’t be able to walk around without bumping into them and we wouldn’t be able to look out of a window without seeing them. Litlington is a lovely village and would be ruined by a row of wind turbines.”

Mayor of Royston, Bob Smith, said: “We feel the wind farm is in a most inappropriate location. We feel very strongly about the visual disturbance it would cause to views from Royston Heath.”

Action group ‘Stop Litlington Wind Farm’ state on its website that the turbines, located around half a mile from the nearest houses, promise to “dominate the village and the surrounding landscape.”

He added: “It’s not a great site as it’s not sufficiently windy. There will be noise which shouldn’t be a problem during the day but we will really hear it at night, it could disrupt sleep.

“Litlington is a conservation village and is full of little thatched cottages, it’s culture would be spoiled.

“There will be a lot of disappointment if the wind farm goes through. It’s just too close to the village.”

A SCDC spokesman said: “We have been carrying out consultations on the application to gather views and due to the concerns and objections being raised it will be presented to our planning committee. The date of this meeting will be agreed once all the consultation information has been supplied.”