Allerdale refuses (again)...appeal here we come (again)
Yet again the Allerdale planning committee has humiliated its own planning department and torn up the even stronger recommendation for approval for our proposed mid-sized wind turbine at JPA Brayton. The officers report concluded:
Bearing in mind the current extant approval for a wind turbine on this site and the fact that the turbine would be no greater in height than that approved, the alteration in design is not considered sufficient to warrant refusal of the application. It is considered the need for the development outweighs any landscape implications also, bearing in mind national planning policy approval is recommended. - Allerdale Planning Officer
Despite already loosing at appeal once for the same-size turbine at JPA Brayton only last year and having costs for "unreasonable behaviour" awarded against them.. they chose to do it all over again! This time the refusal reason is pure fiction.. claiming the turbine "by virtue of its greater scale.." (untrue by the way) "....would constitute a prominent and unsympathetic feature"
In awarding costs against the council last time, the Appeal Inspector criticised the members saying:
The Council’s decision to refuse to grant planning permission was made in the absence of any empirical evidence to substantiate their concerns. To disregard their officers’ comprehensive analysis of the relevant issues under these circumstances amounted to unreasonable behaviour, causing the applicant unnecessary expense in having to pursue the matter to appeal. I conclude that a full award of costs is justified. The application therefore succeeds.
In truth the revised application should not have required full planning permission at all since it was just swapping one turbine model for another - the replacement was actually to be no taller, quieter and more efficient. Go figure!
No doubt the revised application will be granted at appeal and yet more costs will be awarded - all at the tax-payers expense. Last year it was publicised that Allerdale has been burning vast amounts of public money fighting (and loosing) wind turbine applications. Checking the published minutes reveals that hardly a month goes by when they do not refuse one or more applications that after much careful consideration, were recommended for approval by their planning department. The planning officers must wonder why they bother!
Is this how local democracy is supposed to work? Who benefits from all those lost planning appeals and costs against the council? Certainly not the local people who the councillors are supposed to be serving.
Our suggestion to Mssrs Cameron and Osbourne.. If you want to get the economy working again - do something to prevent these needless appeal cases.
Amended application for JPA gains officer approval (yet again!)
UPDATE (11/10/2012)
At the previous development committee meeting members could not agree to pass the proposals despite firm backing from planning officers, instead deferring until the next meeting on October 16th. The updated planning officer report is now even more strongly recommending permission is granted.
Its hard to see how (or why) the members would now refuse permission without looking unreasonable, remembering of course that planning permission for a turbine at this location was already granted at appeal AND costs were awarded against the authority.
Fingers crossed that all concerned see reason.
ORIGINAL (06/09/2012)
Following our successful appeal for a single wind turbine in Cumbria, we are pleased that the revised application at JPA has been recommended for approval by planning officers at Allerdale District Council.
The application goes before the development committee next week and we are hoping that members will vote to pass the proposals.
The revised application would actually see a turbine model that is both more powerful and quieter than the existing permitted model - so clearly it is in everyone's interest for the plans to be approved.
Rogershill gains full planning approval
Our proposals for a mid-size wind turbine at Rogershill Farm in Bere Regis won unanimous support from the Planning Committee at Purbeck District Council in Dorset today.
After a full and frank discussion about all aspects of the scheme councilors decided to uphold the recommendation by planning officers to grant planning permission subject to a number of standard conditions.
Naturally we are delighted at this outcome and hope that construction can begin early in the New Year.
Cefn Parc public meeting to be held
A public consultation meeting for the proposed wind turbines at Cefn Parc will be hosted by DistGen staff on the evening of Wednesday 27th July 2011.
When: 27th July 2011, 6pm
Where: Cefn Cribwr Community Centre
There will be a brief presentation followed by a Q&A session plus a series of large scale display boards showing visual impact, predicted noise emissions and much more. Distgen staff will be on hand to provide additional information regarding specific technical questions.
JPA Brayton appeal win
After months of waiting we are delighted to announce the decision of the planning inspectorate regarding our application for a single mid-size wind turbine at Brayton Park, Aspatria...
The appeal has been upheld and planning permission is thereby granted.
The inspector's report notes that Allerdale Borough Council (ABC) refused planning permission despite a recommendation to pass from their planning officers. Instead they said the single turbine would cause unacceptable visual impact, noise and shadow flicker resulting in damage to the local landscape and tourism industry.
In awarding costs, inspector David Pinner found no evidence was provided by ABC concluding that:
The Council’s decision to refuse to grant planning permission was made in the absence of any empirical evidence to substantiate their concerns. To disregard their officers’ comprehensive analysis of the relevant issues under these circumstances amounted to unreasonable behaviour, causing the applicant unnecessary expense in having to pursue the matter to appeal. I conclude that a full award of costs is justified. The application therefore succeeds.
In a recent article it was leaked that Allerdale Borough Council has spent over £80,000 of tax payers money in the last five years alone fighting wind turbine planning appeals.
Distgen now has 3 fully consented sites, a further 4 currently in planning and many more in development.
Milestone: DistGen granted permission for first site
UPDATED (30th May 2011)
After re-submitting a revised proposal DistGen now has full planning permission for a larger Vestas v39 wind turbine. The v39 has a 39m rotor and a maximum output of 500kW making it twice as powerful as the wind turbines previously consented.
Installation is scheduled for this autumn.
ORIGINAL POST (9th December 2010)
Test Valley Borough Council today granted planning permission for our first wind turbine in Faccombe near Andover.
The new mid-size turbine will replace an existing turbine that has come to the end of its lifetime. The scheme will guarantee a valued source of diversified income for the Estate management.
Located in the heart of the North Wessex Downs AONB the existing turbine has been generating clean electricity since the early 1990's. Without any opposition the planning application was passed by TVBC allowing us to install one of three possible wind turbine models:
- ACSA A27
- WES-30
- Vergnet MPR-32
DistGen will now enter negotiations with various suppliers to seek the most competitive offer.
Shipham villagers asked vote on turbine scheme
Residents of Shipham village (near Chedder in Somerset) have been sent a voting form by their Parish Council asking whether they are in favour or against the proposal to install two mid-size wind turbines at the quarry site on Callow Hill.
Unfortunately, from our perspective, the voting paper presents a somewhat negative list of issues and does not put forward the positive case for the scheme or describe any of its benefits. There are also some slight inaccuracies that we hope to correct at the bottom of this page. Furthermore, on their dedicated web page the PC has chosen only to include documents that are biased against wind turbines.
Sadly, the PC has nothing positive to say about wind energy at all. For example, there is no mention that our two public meetings on the proposals have revealed the majority of opinion expressed was supportive, with 65% in favour.
It's also important to remember that this vote is not the definitive say in whether the scheme finally goes ahead. If you agree in principle but have some specific concerns - everyone will have the opportunity to comment further if a planning application is to be submitted. Its OK to say yes now and change your mind later!
Second Shipham public meeting held
A second public meeting was held recently to update the residents of Shipham village on the progress of the proposed Shipham wind turbine scheme and to further measure the level of support and backing locally.
Generally the response was still overwhelmingly in favour of the scheme with support from 65% of the residents who attended.
In response, Shipham Parish Council have decided to constitute a wind turbine working group to further investigate community opinion with their conclusions to be published by the end of March 2011.
DistGen is pleased to see local democracy in action and hopes that the level of support received to date is mirrored in the wider community. With backing from the Parish Council, Shipham village could join the elite club of UK villages that are presently benefiting from generous government subsidies the onshore community wind projects.
Talbot Farm public meeting planned
A public consultation meeting for the proposed wind turbine at Talbot Farm will be hosted by DistGen staff on the evening of Thursday 3rd March 2011.
The exact time and location is still TBC but likely to be Hinton village hall around 7pm.
There will be a brief presentation followed by a Q&A session plus a series of large scale display boards showing visual impact, predicted noise emissions and much more. Distgen staff will be on hand to provide additional information regarding specific technical questions.
Shipham 2nd public meeting scheduled
The community project at Shipham continues to develop with some recent developments from the proposals originally presented back in the summer of 2010:
- Location
- Wind turbines proposed
The Shipham project page has already bee updated to reflect the changes, however a 2nd public meeting has been scheduled to discuss the changes and present revised visual and noise impact data. The meeting will be held at Shipham Village Hall at 7pm on Thursday the 13th January 2011.