August 1, 2014
England

Fight rumbles on over ‘intrusive’ wind farm

Ron Walker, Reporter | Weston Mercury | July 31, 2014 | www.thewestonmercury.co.uk

A group of 120m-high wind turbines could yet be built in West Huntspill after would-be developers turned to the Court of Appeal.

The controversial plan for the four-turbine wind farm, on land near Poplar Farm in Puriton Road, has been involved in legal wrangles since they were first rejected by Sedgemoor Distict Council in 2012 for its ‘visual intrusion’.

Despite being approved on appeal, last month the High Court upheld Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles’ decision to block the development, in what has been viewed as a landmark decision.

Ecotricity feel there were ‘discrepancies’ in Mr Pickles’ ruling, and have now applied to have its case heard by the Court Of Appeal, with a response expected in two to three months.

An Ecotricity spokesman said: “We thought there were discrepancies with the Secretary of State’s decision and that is why we’ve gone ahead.”

Campaign group No To The Huntspill Wind Farms has been fighting against the proposals since before Ecotricity’s planning application was first submitted in December 2010, and communications officer Julie Trott said she was ‘disappointed’ the saga was set to continue.

She said: “We are disappointed as 
a group. We were hoping that we 
would be able to let it go and move on, but we have been fighting this for nearly five years now so this is nothing new.

“There’s not a lot we can do. The frustrating part is that we can’t have any input whatsoever, we will just have to wait and see.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/08/01/fight-rumbles-on-over-intrusive-wind-farm/