Wind Farms
Robin Dower brings us up to date with Society thinking
At the County Committee meeting in mid-July a discussion centred round the risk of being seen to object in principle to every windfarm proposal and planning application. That may appear to be the case but it is perhaps part of the nature of the planning process that it becomes so.
For a start the adversarial nature of the system, particularly when it reaches Public Inquiry stage, seems to require anyone who wishes to enter the debate to adopt a ‘for’ or ‘against’ posture, and during the course of the Inquiry one side must test and exploit the weaknesses of the other side.
Two things arise from this. First, each participant is wise to stick to areas and issues which directly and justifiably concern him or the body he represents. Thus it is not appropriate for the Society to make statements about the cost benefits of wind turbines or about the danger to low-flying aircraft - we do not know enough about these things and cross-examination would quickly expose our weakness and devalue our case. The second is that we make a useful contribution by expressing our anxieties about the consequences of development when what we are saying is “All of us – the developer, the land-owner, the local community and the Inquiry Inspector – have to weigh up the sacrifices that a development entails in a particular context. What is being proposed now, if effected, will lead to the irredeemable loss of some particular character of the Northumbrian landscape which is unique and distinctive.
This is why we are currently appearing at the Public Inquiry into the Ray, Steadings and Greenrigg windfarm proposals to draw to the Inspector’s attention the landscape qualities not only of the large tract of land on which the turbines might be built but the very extensive area of the centre of the county from which the turbines would be seen: the impact on viewpoints, entry points, scenic routes and on the National Park.
The same concerns affect our response to the proposals at Kiln Pit Hill south of Corbridge, now to go to Public Inquiry following appeal against Tynedale Council’s refusal of permission. Here the closeness of the turbines to the listed St. Andrew’s Church and Mausoleum and the general prominence of the site from the North Pennines AONB are the issues. We have been invited by NPower Renewables to comment on new proposals at Kirkharle, a site that fits like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle into the east edge of The Steadings site. In our view, the impacts that have lead us to object to The Steadings apply equally to Kirkharle and we have indicated the likelihood of our objection to this development whether or not permission is granted for the other.
Another new site between Longhirst and Hebron is being promoted by Novera Energy. We have yet to look closely at this but note the proximity of three turbines at the south-east corner of Hebron village - at 130 metres to the blade tip, very tall objects to have in the view of peaceful fields and hedgerows at the bottom of one’s garden.
It is not, I think, that we are automatically given to oppose every windfarm development as a matter of principle but that we believe that every such development will necessarily have a significant impact on characteristic and locally distinct aspects of Northumberland which we want to be sure are weighed in the Inspector’s mind as he makes his recommendations.
City and County
August 2008
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