December 5, 2014
England

Molesworth wind farm proposal dismissed by Eric Pickles

Stephen Waite | The Hunts Post | 04 December 2014 | www.huntspost.co.uk

Plans for Molesworth wind farm have been dismissed by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles.

RWE Group’s proposals for six turbines north of the A14, near Molesworth, Bythorn and Keyston, were met with widespread disapproval.

Its request for planning permission was turned down by Huntingdonshire District Council but RWE had already appealed for non-determination of its plans as HDC did not make a decision on the scheme within eight weeks.

The final say was due to be with the Planning Inspectorate, which heard the appeal last December, but Mr Pickles decided to ‘call in’ the application, and today it was revealed it had been dismissed.

The Secretary of State considered that the benefits of the turbines were outweighed by the harm they would cause. A three-turbine recommendation in the planning inspector’s report was also rejected because it failed to preserve the setting of listed buildings.

The campaign against the turbines was led by the Molesworth Wind Farm Action Group.

Committee member Zoe Woods said: “We are delighted. It was a fight worth fighting. It has been some years now and we have waited 51 weeks for a decision after the appeal last year.

“We are glad the inspector’s recommendation for three turbines has been thrown out as we were always worried that would have been the start of something new.

“This has sent a clear signal to RWE and other renewable energy companies that this is not the right place for development. Huntingdonshire has taken its fair share.

“The community has been fantastic and thankfully we got the right decision today.”

North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara also welcomed the decision. He said: “This is the right result and I am absolutely delighted that the Secretary of State has decided against these wind turbines.

“This has been a long campaign and I pay tribute to the work of the Molesworth Wind Farm Action Group and local residents on this issue.

“The chairman of the Action Group, Mrs Vicky Wood, deserves special mention for her dedication to the campaign and all concerned have fought long and hard against this development.

“The villages in this part of Huntingdonshire are a beautiful part of our area and the arguments against the wind turbines were very compelling. It is good that common sense has prevailed.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/05/molesworth-wind-farm-proposal-dismissed-by-eric-pickles/