January 2, 2015
England

Bid to build wind turbines in Gillingham

By Amy Smith | Eastern Daily Press | www.edp24.co.uk

An application has been submitted to build two 60kw wind turbines on farmland in Gillingham.

The turbines, which would measure 22m to the hub with three 12m blades, would be built on land to the north of Hill Farm House in Yarmouth Road.

The aim is to provide Hill Farm and its associated operating costs with a source of reliable and sustainable energy, with any excess power being fed into the local grid network.

Gillingham residents Anne and John Matthews, who live around 340m away from the proposed turbines, have registered their objection and are concerned about the noise and visual impact.

They said: “We feel wind turbines are completely incongruous with the existing landscape and will be a visual intrusion across the Waveney Valley completely destroying the scenic beauty and tranquillity of the area.

“The wind turbines will stand 34m high including the blades. To give some scale to this, Beccles church is 29.6m high. The church dominates the town and the surrounding countryside, much of which is flat terrain of the broads extending south into Suffolk and across the river into nearby Norfolk. The wind turbines which are higher than the church will be on the skyline on the other side of the River Waveney.”

A letter of objection has also been submitted by a keen rambler and birdwatcher from Beccles who is concerned about the turbines disturbing the environment, along with a woman from Kent, who visits Beccles and the Waveney Valley area on a regular basis, who said they will spoil an “outstanding view.”

However in the planning statement, submitted by the agent Green Power Solutions UK Ltd, it says that the scale, height and location of the proposed turbines will not pose significant harm to the open landscape, they will have minimal impact on local ecology and will not give rise to unreasonable noise levels at any nearby noise sensitive properties.

The statement says: “It is the view of the agent that the proposal is not detrimental to the landscape, meets the policy framework set down by Government, regional assemblies and local policies and there are no overriding reasons why this development should not be approved.”

The application will be discussed by Gillingham Parish Council on Wednesday.

A decision will then be made by South Norfolk Council.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/01/02/bid-to-build-wind-turbines-in-gillingham/