January 17, 2014
England

Wind energy bid sparks protests over Iron Age hill fort

Dartmouth Chronicle | 17 January 2014 | www.dartmouth-today.co.uk

A plan to build a 159ft wind turbine next to an ancient hill fort near Dartmouth has provoked a wave of protests.
Campaigners claim that MicroGen’s plans to site the turbine at Bugford just over a mile outside the town will become an eyesore seen from miles around – harming the local tourist trade and the environment, including the important local bat population.
Protesters point out that the site for the turbine on part of Paddlelake Farm is just 200 yards from the Woodbury Iron Age hill fort site of great archaeological interest and are demanding that county archaeologist should be consulted.
The site is actually in the parish of Stoke Fleming and the parish council has joined protesters in objecting to the turbine project.
Last week half a dozen parish councillors carried out a site inspection of the hill where the West Sussex company behind the scheme wants to site the large turbine before recommending that the project should be rejected.
Stoke Fleming’s parish council chairman Jenny Farmer said: ‘We strongly object – mainly because it is in such a rural area and will be highly visible from so many areas.’
She said the parish councillors felt that the application was just the start of a number of applications which the parish will face – including one for a nearby solar farm.
‘We felt that enough was enough. It is right on the top of a hill, which is clearly where it would need to be. We felt that it was completely out of order.’
However, she warned that if South Hams Council backed the parish objections and threw the scheme out she felt sure the turbine development company would take the matter to appeal.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/01/17/wind-energy-bid-sparks-protests-over-iron-age-hill-fort/