THE OWNER of holiday cottages close to Hadrian’s Wall has won the backing of English Heritage for his plan to construct two on-site wind turbines.
Richard Currie, of Common House Farm at Melkridge, near Haltwhistle, says the cost-cutting 15-metre turbines he wants to erect near the five-cottage complex will not spoil the glorious views of Roman Wall territory across open land north of the A69. And the proposal has drawn no objection from the leading culture watchdog, English Heritage, which was asked for its opinion by Northumberland County Council.
The county has to make the final decision whether the turbines can go up in the landscape setting of a World Heritage Site.
But Mike Collins, EH Historic Environment Adviser for Hadrian’s Wall, told The Journal: “Hadrian’s Wall’s outstanding universal value lies in our understanding and appreciation of Roman military planning and land use.
“In our view, this proposal doesn’t affect this understanding.”
He added: “No scheduled ancient monuments will be directly impacted by this plan and the setting of the World Heritage Site isn’t adversely impacted.
“The wind turbines are unlikely to be seen from the wall itself and they wouldn’t interrupt the views between any of the key known Roman sites.” As the green energy revolution gathers pace, planners are being faced with ever more eco-friendly development proposals.
And with the Government encouraging cleaner, cheaper energy, the margins between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ from town halls are narrowing all the time.
Mr Currie, who has run Common House Farm with his wife Louise for seven years, says they are investing in the future as well as protecting the environment.
He declared: “Our turbines will not be within sight of Hadrian’s Wall itself.
“We would have gone even more carefully about it if we had thought it was going to be an eyesore.
“We are protected from the line of sight from the wall and the turbines will also be dwarfed by the National Grid pylons nearby.
“We considered solar panels, but they do not produce enough electricity. The turbines will and we see it as investing in the future. You see the news, and the weather changing, and the climate being affected. We have a young family. This is also for their future.”
The Curries used an environment-friendly biomass boiler at the farm and believe the considerable wind power in the South Tyne Valley is an element that should be harnessed.
The turbines would be situated on low-lying land 100 metres from the cottages.
Coun Alan Sharp, whose constituency includes Common House Farm, said: “There is already one turbine at Melkridge and we would need to look very carefully at any new application.”
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