August 14, 2014
England

Saxby Wold wind farm plan rejected

Scunthorpe Telegraph | August 14, 2014 | www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk

Plans for a 10-turbine wind farm have been thrown out by the Government.

Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, rejected an appeal by RWE Innogy to site the turbines at Saxby Wold, between the A15 and Horkstow, Saxby-All-Saints and Bonby.

Mr Pickles’ decision comes after a long campaign by residents through the Saxby Wold Against Turbines (SWAT) group, supported by North Lincolnshire Council.

It was twice refused planning permission by the council and a public inquiry was held in May last year after an appeal by the company.

The planning inspector who chaired the inquiry recommended the appeal be dismissed.

And that has now been ratified by the Secretary of State, on the grounds the turbines would harm the landscape, visual amenity and enjoyment of the countryside in the area.

Rod Greenhough, a former Bonby Parish Councillor who helped oppose the scheme, said he was relieved at the decision.

He said: “There is great relief that at this point in time, it has been kicked out.

“A lot of hard work, time and effort has gone into opposing this, all the way through to the public inquiry.”

Mr Greenhough said he felt the case could come to be seen as a landmark if wind farm applications were submitted for sites elsewhere in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Plans for the project were first tabled in 2009, with the firm, then known as RWE npower Renewables, originally wanting to build 18 turbines.

The scheme was rejected by the council on the grounds it would harm the visual landscape and a second application was launched, with the number of turbines cut to 16.

This was also refused planning permission, despite a further reduction to 10 turbines after consent was granted for a dairy unit on neighbouring land.

Jenny Haynes, a Horkstow resident and secretary of the Northern Lincolnshire Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) branch, welcomed the latest decision.

She said: “We are very, very pleased by it.

“On the other side of the river in the East Riding, there had been a few turbines approved and we were a bit concerned the same was going to happen here.

“It has been a long time waiting for the result and you always think the longer it goes on, the more bad news there could be.”

Local MP Andrew Percy said: “This is a fantastic victory for the local residents who fought hard against this application.

“North Lincolnshire has taken more than its fair share of wind turbines and the approval of this wind farm would have been a step too far.

“There was a very clear case that this proposal would have had an unacceptable impact on the landscape in and around our aspect of the Lincolnshire Wolds.”

RWE Innogy still has the option to appeal to the High Court for planning permission.

Neil Parnell, developer at the company, said: “We are very disappointed that Saxby Wold has been refused planning consent.

“Saxby Wold Wind Farm has the potential to invest up to £37 million into local companies in addition to generating home grown energy and reducing our dependency on costly and volatile fossil fuel imports, whilst at the same time reducing the amount of polluting CO2 in our atmosphere.

“We still firmly believe the proposed site is a suitable location for a wind farm given its wind speeds, road access and electricity grid connection.

“We will now analyse the details before making any decisions on the future of the project.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/08/14/saxby-wold-wind-farm-plan-rejected/