North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) rejected the plans to place offshore wind farm power cables throughout the countryside and now a fine of £100,000 might be imposed on the Council in case it opposes the appeal filed by Warwick Energy.
The council’s members stated that they do not have the financial assets necessary for proceeding the battle, thus these circumstances might force NNDC to reintroduce the plan before members after they reached their decision last month to reject the plans.
Paul Gardner, a member of Little Dunham Action Group, believes that planning is a democratic process and it cannot be influenced by a local authority’s finance.
The council’s planning committee declined in January Warwick’s proposal to lay 28km of cable to power the 168-turbine windfarm off the coast at Cromer after what the green energy firm filed appeal scheduled to be heard during a six-day public enquiry in the spring.
NNDC is going to tackle financial implications at the authority’s full council meeting on Wednesday.
Apart from this cable appeal case, Warwick is presently pursuing efforts to push through its proposals to construct a sub-station at Little Dunham, which would provide the turbines’ link to the National Grid. These plans were rejected in 2010.
The company’s project to lay 17km of cables in the Breckland district that would link the north Norfolk lines to the sub-station has been approved.
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Offshore WIND staff, February 21, 2012; Image:Warwick Energy