December 19, 2014
England

Sedgefield MP urges council to reject The Isles wind farm plans in objection letter

By Lizzie Anderson | The Northern Echo | 18 December 2014 | www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

An MP has urged planning chiefs to reject plans for a 24-turbine wind farm in his constituency.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson believes The Isles wind farm will have a detrimental effect on nearby towns and villages and has outlined his reasons in a letter to Durham County Council’s principal planning officer, Claire Teasdale.

E.ON, the energy company behind the proposed scheme, has submitted plans for 24 turbines across two sites close to the A1 motorway, near Newton Aycliffe and Sedgefield.

The scheme, which was scaled back from 45 turbines to 24 in 2012, could generate enough energy to power 27,000 homes.

In the letter, seen by The Northern Echo, Mr Wilson referred to documents submitted with E.ON’s application in May.

These identify 42 turbines, either constructed or with planning consent, within 20km.

Mr Wilson said this number had increased since then.

“I have expressed my views on this issue on numerous occasions,” he said. “The reason I wrote this letter now is that I wanted to put across as much information to the planners as possible.

“I’m not against wind farms but I believe County Durham has played its part and it’s time for other parts of the country to do the same.”

E.ON was unavailable for comment.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/19/sedgefield-mp-urges-council-to-reject-the-isles-wind-farm-plans-in-objection-letter/