LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Uproar at plans to build wind turbines at Elsdon 

Credit:  The Journal, www.journallive.co.uk 9 August 2011 ~~

Plans are in the offing for a wind farm close to an historic Northumberland landmark and on the boundary of a national park.

Wind company Air Farmers Ltd is working on a scheme for nine turbines, 125m high, at Elsdon, close to the Grade II listed Winter’s Gibbet and directly beside the boundary of Northumberland National Park and the A696.

The gibbet, said to be around 1km from the turbine site, is a gallows type structure from which a wooden head hangs.

It recalls the hanging of a man and two women in the later 18th century for murder, with the man’s body supposedly having been left to rot at the site.

Details of the scheme first emerged at a meeting of Elsdon Parish Council, which was attended by planning consultant Bob Morgan on behalf of Air Farmers.

The meeting was told a scoping report for the development – which would be known as Middle Hill Renewables Ltd – is to be submitted to Northumberland County Council within the next week.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the county council and Northumberland National Park Authority.

Parish chairman Keith Maddison said his council had yet to take a view on the application, which he said had come as “a bit of a surprise”.

He said the parish was in the process of gauging local residents’ views and that it would discuss the project at its next meeting in September.

But Coun Maddison voiced his own reservations, citing doubts about the efficiency of turbines and concerns about visual impact, noise pollution and effect on residents – with “quite a few people” said to live close to the site and claims one turbine would be within 800m of a home, and the subsequent impact on value of properties.

“I do not think wind turbines are the way forward, (there are) too many issues surrounding them.

“I think it would be more productive to provide every roof in the UK with solar panels.” He also spoke of the importance of Winter’s Gibbet.

“It is the openness of the space up there, we think it is quite special.”

Coun Maddison claimed the proposal would divide local opinion.

He added: “It will concern some people. It will concern the people who live near to what is being proposed. These things trigger off different reactions.

“There is going to be a wide variety of views, some people will want it for what we can get out of it. Other people will be indifferent.”

County councillor Steven Bridgett, whose ward covers Elsdon, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“The proposal is to build these colossal turbines within metres of both the Winter’s Gibbet which is grade listed and within metres of the national park boundary.”

A spokeswoman for the county council said: “We are aware of a possible proposal by Air Farmers Ltd.

“However, we have not yet received any formal application or scoping report from them.”

Air Farmers and Mr Morgan were unavailable for comment last night.

Source:  The Journal, www.journallive.co.uk 9 August 2011

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon