Residents’ anger as two wind turbines are put up on farmland off Anstey Lane, Groby 

Residents are angry two wind turbines have been put up near their homes without warning.

The turbines, which are about 45m (150ft) high, have gone up on farmland off Anstey Lane, Groby, after being granted planning permission by officials at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

However, their size and prominent position mean they are clearly visible from nearby Anstey – and residents there say they knew nothing about them until workmen arrived at the beginning of the month.

Some blame the fact Anstey lies within Charnwood Borough Council, while the turbines are just across the Hinckley council border.

Others said it was because the application was approved by council officers using delegated powers rather than being publicly debated by the council’s planning committee.

Paul Coxon has enjoyed views of the countryside from his home in Bradgate Road, Anstey, for 15 years but said he woke one morning to see the turbines being erected.

He said: “It was such a surprise. I did not know anything about it until they were there. It has totally spoiled the view.”

He said he lives about 700 or 800 yards from the turbines. When he called the council in Hinckley to ask why he had not been consulted, he said he was told it was because he lives more than 1,000 yards away.

Anstey Parish Council clerk Liz Hawkes said: “I have had a lot of people phoning up asking, ‘Why didn’t I know anything about this?’

“I am surprised Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council officers passed this without it being discussed by councillors because I think they could have guessed it would be controversial. They are high up on the hillside and very dominant on the landscape.”

Anstey’s county councillor, David Snartt, said: “I’m very concerned because they affect people in my division and I would have thought Hinckley and Bosworth would know that and make more of an effort to consult, even though it is on the other side of their boundary.

“I am worried there is now a precedent set which could see more turbines being built.

“If had been a discussion we might have at least got a condition that the things were grey, rather than white.”

Shepshed farmers PS Taylor and Son got permission to proceed with the turbines, which generate power for the national grid, last October.

Councillor Peter Batty, who represents Groby on Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, said that he had complained to senior officers that the application had not been discussed by the planning committee.

He said: “The turbines are not the biggest but they are on an elevated position and I think if it had gone to committee we would have had a strong case to refuse them. I, as ward member, asked for it to go to committee but a planning officer put it through so we were denied that opportunity.

I have been getting grief from residents who feel I haven’t done my bit on their behalf.”

Nobody from Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council was available for comment on the matter yesterday, but a spokesman said the concerns raised were under consideration.