Towering wind turbine fears; Planning application for 77m wind turbine unpopular with community 

An application has been submitted by Clean Power Properties Limited to erect a single 500kW wind turbine which could be as high as 77 metres.

The scheme also includes a vehicular access track, a substation and an inverter at Helsby Railway Sidings.

If permission is granted, it will be the second turbine development in the Helsby and Frodsham area, along with Peel Energy’s yet to be built 19-turbine wind farm on Frodsham Marshes.

Speaking as a resident, Helsby parish councillor George Randles said: “The proposed site is too close to the houses down by Lodge Hollow.

“With already having a wind farm on the marshes and the incinerator, it’s too much. Enough is enough.

“It is up to individuals to object, by writing directly to Cheshire West and Chester Council’s planning department. The more personal objections the better.”

Helsby ward borough councillor Les Ford said: “The turbine is some 240-250 metres from the nearest house. It is also in the green belt.

“The latter fact requires the presence of the turbine to be justified by very special circumstances and as yet I have not found a reason justifying its requirement.”

Councillor Ford added he was awaiting a response from the council’s environmental officers regarding sound emission and that when he has that information, he ‘may well call the application into the planning committee’.

Helsby resident Prof John Dearden, who campaigned against the Frodsham Marsh wind farm, said he was ‘very concerned’ about the proposal and the problems wind turbines can cause, including sleeping troubles from the low frequency sound emitted by turbines and the ‘extremely distracting’ shadow flicker effect, which is when the rotating blades of a turbine regularly cast shadows through openings such as windows.

The environmental consultancy Aardvark EM is Clean Power Properties’ planning agent.

Director of Aarvark EM Nick Leaney said: “The main attractions of the site are its windspeed and because it is a brownfield site.

“Clean Power Properties are making very good use of redundant railway sidings.”

Mr Leaney described the proposed turbine as ‘very efficient’ and ‘one of the quietest on the market’, which has the potential to provide energy for the ‘equivalent of 400 properties’.

The Heritage Statement compiled by Aardvark EM in support of the proposal states that the development would be clearly visible from the peak of Helsby Hill but ‘is not overbearing and is not considered to harm the perception of Helsby Hill as a scheduled monument’.

Clean Power Properties currently has nine energy sites across the UK in the initial planning and permitting stage, with a further 13 sites imminent and an extended pipeline of over 40 sites.

Residents are invited to a meeting organised by the parish council on Saturday, November 2, at 10am in Helsby Community Centre to view the planning application in full.

Residents have until Thursday, November 7 to register their concern with the council.