July 31, 2015
England

Council abandons plans for three wind turbines on its land

Cornish Guardian | July 31, 2015 | www.cornishguardian.co.uk

Cornwall Council has dropped plans to erect wind turbines on three pieces of land it owns, due to a change in government policy.

The sites were at St Ewe, Grampound and Tregony.

Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, announced after the general election that only turbine schemes which had local support would be considered acceptable in planning terms.

The council said it would push ahead with a turbine at Ventonteague, near Carland Cross, as a planning application had already been submitted, but would keep the matter under review.

Bob Egerton, Cornwall councillor for Probus, Tregony and Grampound, said: “I’m very disappointed that we’ve had to put the two projects in my division on hold. I’ve always felt that these turbines would have been good for the environment, good for Cornwall Council’s finances and good for local residents through the community funds linked to the projects.

“However, the reality is that central government has changed the rules, making it virtually impossible to approve any new onshore wind projects, and we’ll have to live with the consequences of that decision.”

However, Steve Double, Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, said he welcomed the decision.

“I’ve always been against turbines that are ruining our countryside and have consistently supported local communities who have fought against them,” he said.

“The figures in Cornwall Council’s strategy just didn’t add up, particularly in the light of the government’s new policy which has cut the subsidies that make [turbines] so lucrative for developers at the [expense] of [electricity] bill-payers.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/07/31/council-abandons-plans-for-three-wind-turbines-on-its-land/