May 14, 2015
England

Consultation to open over plans for 20 wind turbines at Nocton Fen

By Sleaford Target | Posted: May 14, 2015 | www.sleafordtarget.co.uk

Villagers are being invited to have their say in a consultation on moves to build another renewable energy farm for the county.

Residents from Bardney, Nocton, Potterhanworth, Metheringham, Dunston and Branston will be able to voice their opinions regarding plans to build 20 wind turbines at Nocton Fen.

Wind farm developer Vattenfall is holding a series of public consultation meetings in the villages across June.

The potential site would extend from the River Witham in the east to Nocton Heath in the West and from Nocton Fen Lane in the north to Dunston Fen Lane in the south.

Although the extent of the site is large, the 20 turbines themselves would be between the village of Nocton and the River Witham.

Councillor Charles Shaw, chairman of Bardney parish council, said although residents were concerned, the council did not expect to be voting on the plans just yet.

He said: “The council’s stance is to reflect the views of the local community.

“There are some views of concern. A number of people were not particularly happy – some voiced some concern but some were in favour of renewable energy.”

He told the Target that the parish council would not be extending a resolution for or against the plans until a planning application was officially tabled, at which point they would take into consideration the residents’ views before deciding whether to support or reject the idea.

This comes as plans for a wind farm in Temple Marsh and another one in Orby Marsh were rejected earlier this year, and there are fears over a possibility of fresh plans for a proposed for a site at Hemswell Cliff.

Plans for solar farms are also on the upward trend with plans for solar panels to be placed both at Foston, near Grantham and another at Faldingworth in a separate development.

Graham Davey, Vattenfall’s project manager for the Nocton Fen project said: “We have listened carefully to local people and over the last 18 months we have made a number of significant changes to our plans.

“We will continue listening because we want to design the best possible wind farm we can. The comment and opinion that we receive this summer can still influence the design of the project.”

The original design included a total of 23 turbines.

A planning application is due to be submitted by the Swedish company to the planning inspectorate in 2016.

The consultations will be held in Bardney Village Hall on Thursday June, 11, from 2pm-7pm; Nocton Village Hall on Friday June, 12, from 2pm-8pm; Potterhanworth Memorial Hall on Saturday June, 13, 10am-4pm; Metheringham Village Hall on Thursday June, 18, 2pm-8pm; Dunston Village Hall on Friday June, 19, 2pm-8pm, and Branston Village Hall on Saturday June, 20, 10am-4pm.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/05/14/consultation-to-open-over-plans-for-20-wind-turbines-at-nocton-fen/