Two Northumberland wind farms rejected but third allowed

Jan 22 2010 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

They fear the approval of that scheme could open the floodgates for more applications.

The Save our Unspoilt Landscape (SOUL) group, set up to fight the Barmoor wind farm, said it will be meeting to discuss any action it can take to stop the project going ahead, and is considering a High Court challenge.

A spokesman for the Moorsyde Action Group said: “While celebrating the refusal of the Moorsyde and Toft Hill appeals, we feel a deep sympathy for all the people who will be affected by the approval of the Barmoor scheme.

“These turbines will cause what many consider to be unacceptable damage to the historic and ecologically valuable landscape of Barmoor, Ford Moss and Broomridge. They will also impact on local tourist businesses.”

Andrew Joicey, of SOUL, said: “Most people would be delighted that Moorsyde and Toft Hill were turned down and deeply upset that Barmoor has been allowed. It is on the whole a great victory, two out of three have at last been dismissed. It has taken a lot of years to fight this and there will no doubt be more to come.”

Meanwhile, one of the refused developers said it would seek to learn lessons from its defeat.

John Ainslie, head of consents for npower renewables, said: “We are very disappointed not to have received permission for Toft Hill wind farm.

“We remain of the view that it is a high-quality proposal, but we will be looking in detail at the reasons given for the refusal in order to learn any lessons.”

The decisions were made by the minister rather than the inspector after he decided in August 2008 the proposals were of “major significance” in tackling climate change.