June 18, 2014
England

Plymouth golf club’s 77m wind turbine plan given thumbs down

By Plymouth Herald | Posted: June 18, 2014 www.plymouthherald.co.uk

A wind turbine that would have dwarfed the Civic Centre in height has been turned down by planning officials.

As revealed in The Herald in April, Boringdon Park Golf Club owner Michael Davey hoped to erect a 77 metre wind turbine to help slash his energy bills.

However, South Hams District Council planning officers decided to reject the proposal stating that the renewable energy structure would “dominate the outlook of nearby residential properties” and would cause “harm to historic interests.”

Plympton businessman Mr Davey said he was disappointed the application did not make it to committee stage where he feels it could have been properly debated.

English Heritage wrote to South Hams council urging it to reject the application. It stated that such a sizeable turbine would cause “substantial harm” to the landscape in respect of the Grade I Listed Boringdon Arch and Grade II* registered Saltram House.

In their final letter of rejection, council officials concluded that such a tall structure would “interrupt the clear visual link between Plymouth city and Dartmoor and cause an unduly harmful visual impact.” It confirmed that four letters of objection were received.

Mr Davey said he hoped to revisit the plans after making revisions. “I’m obviously disappointed,” he said. “I do not feel that I got much feedback from the council. I would have liked for it to have gone to committee and heard it talked about.

“We might look for another location that is more suitable on the golf course, or even go down the solar panels route. We could lay down about 10 acres of those.

“I think the people of Plymouth were quite behind it. We had as many letters of support as we did against it.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/06/18/plymouth-golf-clubs-77m-wind-turbine-plan-given-thumbs-down/