February 26, 2015
England

Griff Grange Wind Farm is turned down

Ashbourne News Telegraph | February 26, 2015 | www.ashbournenewstelegraph.co.uk

Plans for a wind farm that could have added a further five 100m turbines to a hillside near Ashbourne have been turned down.

Derbyshire Dales District Council’s Southern Area Planning Committee met in Matlock last night to decide whether the Griff Grange Wind Farm Project, which would have been built on land near to the four turbines at Carsington Pastures, should go ahead.

A string of organisations, including the Peak District National Park Authority and parish councils close to the wind farm, had lodged objections and planning officer Jon Bradbury had recommended the application for refusal.

It was felt the five turbines, when added to the four already installed nearby and three others in the same area that had recently been given planning permission, would have a cumulative negative impact on the landscape.

Brassington Parish Council, representing one of the villages closest to the site, was among the few groups in favour of the plan, by Griff Grange Wind Farm Ltd, and the village stood to benefit from the project as bosses had promised a new £300,000 pavilion would be built once the turbines were put in place.

The company, which promised the turbines would provide energy security to the population surrounding Griff Grange, had also pledged to give bursaries to Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth and set aside further money for the benefit of the local community.

But at a meeting in Matlock Town Hall last night the planning committee voted to turn down the application, chiefly amid concerns over its visual impact.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/02/26/griff-grange-wind-farm-is-turned-down/