Wainfleet and Triton Knoll Wind Farms Meet Opposition from Local Residents (UK)

Opposing views on the emerging wind farms proposed for the local area came to a head during a series of recent planning consultations.

Campaigners against plans for four 127 metre turbines proposed for the Wainfleet area, submitted more than a thousand letters of objection to East Lindsey District Council on Wednesday as the application’s consultation period drew to a close.

Wainfleet Wind Turbine Action Group (WWTAG) had gathered the letters from potentially affected residents following a series of demonstrations and appearances at public events it had carried out to highlight the potential impact on the region.

Group chairman Melvin Grosvenor said: “We submitted in excess of a thousand letters, which is substantially higher than other campaigns and demonstrates an absolutely unprecedented public response.

“The message that has come from Wainfleet is that people need to respond or face having the whole character of Lincolnshire with its wide open skies and peaceful, tranquil landscapes devastated by tall towers and rotating blades.”

Mr Grosvenor and his group now intend to submit a formal rebuttal to the planning application for ELDC to consider when making its decision.

He argued that the campaign must be fought not just against individual proposals but in opposition to the cumulative effect of the substantial number of pending applications across the district and offshore.

One of the most significant of these offshore applications, also in its consultation phase, is for the 333 turbine Triton Knoll development 20 miles of the Lincolnshire coast.

RWE, which is also the energy firm behind this proposal, recently held a public consultation at the Embassy Theatre, Skegness, to help explain its intentions to the public.

Many of those attended in the hope of gaining answers to some of their concerns but returned feeling like they had not learned anything new.

Sandy Brockhurst, an Anderby resident and opponent of the plans who attended the consultation, said: “They don’t have all the answers, they are just repeating what has already been said in the consultation document.

“It was far too vague and they just seem like they are going through the motions and telling us what we want to hear.”

Sandy had hoped to find out whether the turbines would be visible from land and what affect it may present to tides and marine wildlife.

However as RWE have not settled on which model of turbine they intend to use they were unable to make any concrete assurances.

Coun Colin Davie also attended the event and shared many of Sandy’s concerns about the type or turbine RWE would be using. He felt that without presenting the full extent of the application including its onshore connection, it contravened European directives and made it impossible to form an overall opinion.

Meanwhile, another proposed windfarm will come under the spotlight this week.

A public inquiry was launched on Tuesday, June 28 over proposals for a windfarm at Anderby.

The inquiry is being held in Anderby Village Hall and is expected to last a week.

The local windfarm action group has appealed for members of the public to come along and have their say.

In a letter to the Standard Anderby Windfarm Action’s chairman, Tony McGrath, said: “The cumulative effect will be enormous and many of our group have been asked by visitors ‘Why at Anderby?’”

(skegnessstandard)

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Source: skegnessstandard, June 30, 2011; Image: squarespace