West Ancroft community pleads for end to wind farm blight
Aug 10 2010 The Journal
CAMPAIGNERS who have seen a planned Northumberland wind farm withdrawn have pleaded for an end to damaging developer interest in the countryside.
As reported in The Journal last week, E.ON Climate and Renewables UK has pulled the plug on its planning application to Northumberland County Council to put up eight 115m turbines at West Ancroft, near Berwick.
The withdrawal of the proposal follows the refusal earlier this year of plans for more turbines at neighbouring Moorsyde following a public inquiry. Now the West Ancroft Community Association, which has fought E.ON’s scheme since it was first announced, has called for a stop to the continued interest in theirs and other communities, which it claims is unsettling for residents and a deterrent to investment.
Chairman Ian Corsie said it was time the Government intervened to help threatened communities.
“There has to be an end to this,” he said. “This area is being blighted by speculative wind farm developers.
“They are killing investment in the area and blighting people’s lives. Nor are we an isolated case. We hear from other communities in the same position throughout England and Scotland.”
Mr Corsie added that the coalition Government eventually must “recognise the economic damage that is being done to rural communities by repeated planning applications for giant industrial structures in settled rural areas like ours.”
Meanwhile, WACA has welcomed E.ON shelving its planning application.
But it claimed the move could be merely a strategic withdrawal before the company submits a scheme with fewer turbines. The group believes people in the area are in for a period of uncertainty while the developer assess its options.
Should another application come forward, WACA claims residents will have to endure further blight on their lives while it is then determined and, if refused, possibly appealed, resulting in another costly public inquiry, after which people would have a lengthy wait for a final decision.
E.ON last week confirmed it would be looking at the possibility of amending its project to include fewer or smaller turbines.
