Landmark Farm given the go-ahead
Mendip District Council has given the proposals for a 500kW turbine at Landmark Farm the all-clear.
In granting full planning permission for the turbine, to be located just outside Wanstrow village in Somerset, planning officers concluded that the environmental benefits of the proposals far outweighed any possible impacts.
Distributed Generation MD, John Zamick said
"We are delighted to have been given permission to proceed with this scheme having only received only one letter of objection. We look forward to injecting some much needed funding back into the local community"
Landmark Farm will be the fourth turbine owned and operated by the company.
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.
EDF want HUGE subsidies for new nuclear
According to the Telegraph, EDFs CEO Vincent de Rivaz says he wants 14p per kwh of electricity before he'll build a new nuclear plant.
EDF is negotiating with ministers over a guaranteed electricity price in order to proceed with the project. It is likely to receive billions of pounds in subsidies, paid for through levies on all UK electricity consumers, if the market price remains below that level.
What? Isn't nuclear supposed to be the "cheap option" that costs soooo much less than renewables?
Ultra-expensive solar-pv only gets 21p per kwh and onshore wind only costs around 9p, so EDF must be smoking something to ask for this much. Surely even Climate-Change deniers sceptics would prefer to have onshore wind farms rather than nuclear power at that price?
Wind turbines DO reduce CO2 - FACT!
But of course, we wouldn't expect you to take our word for it.... Read the excellent report in the Guardian.
The assertion that wind turbines don't reduce carbon emissions is a myth, according to conclusive statistical data obtained from National Grid and analysed here in the Guardian for the first time. With a new wind generation record of 4,131 megawatts set on 14 September, the question of how far the UK's wind generation fleet can help in meeting our climate targets is increasingly controversial. Now it can be shown that the sceptics who lobby against wind simply have their facts wrong.
Snaphot of a climate in crisis
Summer 2012 environmental headlines from The Independent... enjoy.
The forecast for 2080: heatwaves, 11,000 deaths – and dengue fever
Tories' dash for gas risks climate target
Sudden spikes in global food prices to 'become the norm'
Price of essentials rises by 10 per cent
Arctic ice melting to a record low, scientists warn
Recent extreme heatwaves 'a result of global warming'
Heatwaves are proof of global warming, says Nasa scientist
Palm trees and forests? A new future for the Antarctic
The big thaw: Greenland ice cover is melting away
Has Saudi oil peaked?
The likes of ASPO and Matt Simmons have been warning that Saudi cannot be depended on to meet the shortfall in world oil demands for much longer. Now a front page article in The Telegraph quotes the latest analysis by industry experts that predict Saudi will cease to export oil by 2030.
Until now Saudi has constantly increased production as other major wells in other oil producing states have matured and then peaked. In recent years much of the extra oil was not the sweat light crude that everyone wants... but heavier low grade oil that requires more costly refinement. Clearly the signs have been there for all to see.
No wonder then that recent announcements from the Kingdom regarding massive rollouts of solar PV and even nuclear power plant.
As Matt Simmons says... when Saudi oil production peaks, the worldwide production of oil will have peaked. Expect $500/barrel oil anytime soon.
Independent think tank says wind is good
This week independent think tank IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) have published a new peer reviewed guide to wind power concluding that, guess what...
"unequivocally that wind power can significantly reduce carbon emissions, is reliable, poses no threat to energy security, and is technically capable of providing a significant proportion of the UK’s electricity supply with minimal impact on the existing operation of the grid. Claims to the contrary are not supported by the evidence."
The report also publishes many fascinating facts that dispel much of the nimby propaganda pushed out every time a controversial planning application is under consideration. For example, really how much do renewables add to typical household energy bills? According to the report an estimated £30 per year (from 2004 to 2010) - in contrast increases in the cost of wholesale gas added a whopping £290!
Top Government scientist says 2degC limit "out the window"
There are widespread reports today that the UKs most senior scientific advisor to HM Gov, Professor Sir Robert Watson has said limiting global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius is no longer possible. Instead he predicts rises could be as high as 5 degrees which will have dire consequences for the planet.
"To be quite candid the idea of a 2C target is largely out of the window... I wouldn't rule out a 5 degree world and that would be quite serious for the people of the world especially the poorest. We need more political will than we currently have"
The UK Government, under pressure from back-bench Tories, are currently cutting renewable energy subsidies, by 50% in some cases, and embarking on another "dash for gas".
Winning the battle for the next election clearly trumps fighting the battle to save the planet.
Germany hits 25% renewable energy target
Germany has announced that it's managed to hit an ambitious target for power generation.. producing 25% of the country's energy from renewables, up from 21 percent in 2011.
The country produced 67.9 billion kilowatt hours of clean energy in the first half of 2012.. an increase of 19.5 percent from the same period the year before.
Wind energy is the largest contributor, accounting for 9.2 percent of energy output, and biomass accounted for 5.7 percent. Solar power comprised 5.3 percent of the total, and also saw the biggest increase -- rising 47 percent. That makes Germany the biggest market globally for solar power, with its installed capacity accounting for more than a third of the total capacity of the entire world. The rest of the 25 percent total was made up of contributions from hydroelectric power and waste incineration plants.
The country's energy industry association, BDEW, said in a statement that the milestone reinforced Germany's position as a leader in green technology.
However, the country remains ten percent short of its primary target of achieving 35 percent of its total energy needs from renewables by 2035.
Meanwhile... back in the UK, it's been leaked that Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne's father-in-law just happens to head a pro-gas lobby group funded by Shell and BP. Of course, we wouldnt suggest this has anything to do with Treasury desires to slash renewable subsidies by 25%... but Greenpeace seem to think it might...
"We'd hate to think that the UK's direction of travel on energy policy was being decided over claret and duck chez Osborne. But Lord Howell's links with big oil and gas special interests are well established. Questions must surely be asked about whether he has been bending the ear of his son-in-law to help his friends in the fossil fuel lobby."
Louise Hutchins, senior energy campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said yesterday: