November 18, 2013
England

‘Near miss’ as wind farm lorry travels through Cliviger

Burnley Express | 18 November 2013 | www.burnleyexpress.net

Residents in Cliviger have said they still have concerns over work to replace turbines at a nearby windfarm following a second attempt to negotiate a massive lorry through the village.

The lorry, which will transport the turbines, was driven along Red Lees Road a week last Thursday.

But residents who watched the attempt said the vehicle only narrowly missed hitting a lamp post and was very close to homes on the main road.

The dummy run came two months after a similar bid resulted in a lorry becoming stuck at the junction of Red Lees Road and Greencliffe Lane.

Work is due to start on the site in December but villagers fear the work will bring with it an increase in traffic, road safety issues and structural damage to homes.

Around 20 people gathered on the street to watch the latest attempt. One resident said: “People are still worried. They are concerned that they won’t be taking as much care when they start bringing the turbines in. Residents are still very concerned even though Scottish Power Renewables have reassured them that structural damage will not occur. They had to condense the vehicle to get around a parked car and the noise was horrendous.”

Plans for new turbines to replace the old ones at Coal Clough Wind Farm were given the green light by Burnley Borough Council’s development control committee despite more than 100 people taking part in a protest against the proposals.

A new access road will also be built from Red Lees to the wind farm to transport the 110m high turbines in lorries measuring 50m by 4m.

A spokesman for Scottish Power Renewables said: “The trial run last week went well. We are still expecting to start work in December and it will last until about 2015.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/18/near-miss-as-wind-farm-lorry-travels-through-cliviger/