July 2, 2014
England

Wind turbine construction in Braunton would mean “colossal noise”

By Duncan Drury, Braunton reporter | North Devon Journal | July 01, 2014 | www.northdevonjournal.co.uk

Braunton residents are angry about the “colossal noise” and headache-inducing light flicker they say would accompany the proposed construction of two wind turbines in the area.

Plans for the 40-metre turbines have been submitted for the second time for farmland at Winsham Down, a rural area north of Braunton with a scattering of homes nearby.

Braunton Parish Council has recommended the application be refused for the second time, having made a number of points about the original application which it felt were not addressed in the second.

Planning chairman Marguerite Shapland said the original application was “riddled with errors” and suggested it may not have been checked properly before being submitted.

The council expressed concerns about the project’s close proximity to homes, insufficient highway access, possible negative impact on wildlife, inconsistencies in supporting statements and insufficient information on how the turbines would be connected to the national grid.

An expert report said the turbines would be “highly visible” and have a “substantial impact on some dwellings”.

Before the council unanimously voted to recommend the application for refusal councillor Jasmine Chesters said: “There would be people who would be severely put out by this and I’m dead against it.

“We’re worried about the homes which would be close to the turbines.”

Businessman Daniel Bateman recently moved to a home which would be one of the closest to the proposed turbines.

He said: “There are enough of them on the horizon already. We recently moved here and we didn’t know about the plans when we moved.

“The noise is colossal and the light flicker gives you a terrible headache.”

Paula Kingdon, who lives around 1,000 metres from the site, said many locals had not received a letter from the council telling them about the consultation period.

She said: “This case is important because if it’s approved it would open the door to multiple developments down the whole of the Caen valley.”

She said the turbines would be “incredibly unsightly and destroy the beauty of the area”.

She added that the birds of prey she regularly sees soaring over the farmland could “get mashed” by the turbines’ propellers.

Ian Beveridge, regional manager for the plans’ developer Mosscliff Environmental, said: “To some people we’re the saviours of the planet and to others we’re the devil incarnate.

“People have the right to object to plans but we would never make an application which did not meet national guidelines.

“We would never submit an application if due diligence had not been exercised on the sound issue.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/07/02/wind-turbine-construction-in-braunton-would-mean-colossal-noise/