A LEADING Northumberland councillor aims to bring together all sides to nail down a firm county policy on wind farms.

Glen Sanderson says the rush of applications to build wind farms in the county needs to be controlled.

And Northumberland must not be seen as “a soft touch” for developers in the new age of renewable energy.

Coun Sanderson, chairman of the county’s Communities and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said: “I am planning to have an open debate on the issue of wind farms.

“There is a waiting list of applicants ready to pounce and I want us to be absolutely clear what our policy is.

“At the moment it seems to be one case on its merits, followed by the next, but I want to strengthen our hand.

“We are perhaps being seen by some as a soft touch – but I want to make it clear to developers that we are not.”

Coun Sanderson, Conservative councillor for Chevington with Longhorsley, who lives near Morpeth, hopes to bring planners, developers and all other interested parties together round the table before July.

He was speaking after the Council’s Planning and Environment Committee streamlined its case to go to before a public inquiry into a planned nine-turbine development at scenic Park Head, Wingates, near Rothbury.