December 19, 2013
England

Revised plans for Maumhill wind farm site

Gainsborough Standard | 19 December 2013 | www.gainsboroughstandard.co.uk

Campaigners fighting plans for a wind farm near Sturton le Steeple have said reducing the number of turbines makes ‘no difference’.

EDF Energy Renewables has revised its proposals for the Maumhill site by reducing the number of turbines from nine to seven.

In February Bassetlaw Council’s planning committee turned down the application to build nine wind turbines at Maumhill, which is surrounded by the villages of Sturton-Le-Steeple, North and South Weatley, North and South Leverton and Clarborough.

“Reducing the amount of turbines from nine to seven makes no difference at all,” said John Blackwell from the Wheatley Energy Forum

“This is still a very significant proposal and it would be a very great intrusion on the area as it is sited on a hill.”

“We have got two huge power stations which provide around 10 per cent of the energy used in the county and enough is enough.”

“We have been doing our bit in terms of energy generation since the 1960s, so I think we have done our bit,” he added.

EDF Energy Renewables lodged an appeal against the decision, and has now announced that two turbines will be removed from the scheme, along with the permanent meteorological mast originally proposed.

Minor adjustments to the location of the seven remaining turbines have been made to ensure compliance with clearance zones for bat foraging habitats .

Darren Cuming, EDF Energy Renewables’ development managert, said: “After due consideration of the responses from our consultation we have now carried out further investigative work at the site and introduced some changes to the proposed Maumhill scheme.”

“We take the utmost care with our site selection and believe that these latest changes will further reduce the environmental effects of the development.”

“We continue to regard the Maumhill site as an excellent location for the size of wind farm proposed and if approved could make an important contribution to meeting the government’s renewable energy targets and the country’s future low carbon energy needs,” he added.

A Public Inquiry is likely to be held in March next year to determine the appeal.

Full details of the amended proposal will be available from Bassetlaw Council and at www.edf-er.com


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/12/19/revised-plans-for-maumhill-wind-farm-site/