MoD faces bill for wind farm inquiry
Dec 17 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal
DEFENCE chiefs will today be hit with a bill for the costs of three wind farm developers for an 11-month public inquiry.
Companies Vattenfall Wind Power Ltd, Wind Prospect Developments Ltd and Steadings Wind Farm Ltd are to ask Government planning inspector David Rose to order the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to reimburse them over the battle for three sites in Northumberland.
The MoD would only be ordered to pay out if Mr Rose finds defence bosses have acted unreasonably in relation to the inquiry, in which they have appeared as an objector.
The formal applications will be made before the hearing closes at Tynedale Council chamber in Hexham this afternoon and could leave the MoD with a bill running to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
At the inquiry yesterday, Wind Prospect and Vattenfall savaged military bosses during their closing submissions, accusing the defence team of objecting to their proposals just as the hearing was to begin, having initially not opposed them.
Vincent Fraser, for Wind Prospect, which is seeking 18 turbines at Green Rigg, said: “The MoD’s conduct since April 2007 has been clearly unreasonable and in the case of any other party to the inquiry would be expected to result in an award of costs against them. There is no reason why the MoD should be treated any differently. Irrespective of the outcome of the inquiry, this behaviour on the part of a Government department should never be repeated...
“In the circumstances and difficult though it may be, it is important that the Secretary of State should make it absolutely clear that the MoD must not behave in this way again.” And William Norris, for Vattenfall, which is seeking 20 turbines on the Ray Estate, called for the MoD to be made to pay “a very substantial” amount of costs.
He said: “We shall then invite the inspector in his report to deprecate the MoD’s conduct in clear and unequivocal terms in the hope that no other developers or any member of the public with a genuine concern about the interest which the MoD is required to protect should ever have to face these kind of problems again.”
The MoD’s barrister Philip Coppel, who will respond to the costs applications this afternoon, had earlier reminded the inquiry the wind farms would impair two air traffic control radars at RAF Spadeadam.
In his closing statement, Mr Coppel said: “These three proposals are deeply flawed. They will impair the operation of Spadeadam. That impairment cannot be overcome, not with a mitigation, not with a condition. So each of these proposals should be refused.”
Steadings Wind Farm Ltd, which is seeking 21 turbines at Steadings, is to present its closing submissions today.
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