In a well attended meeting of the Maidstone Borough Planning committee this evening, permission was granted for the Castle Farm wind turbine.
The vote was tight at 7 to 6 in favour due to a number of councilors who could not be moved from their position that any visual impact was too much – despite backing from the planning officer and a general consensus that a rejection would more than likely be overturned at appeal.
Members were reassured that public fears over health concerns, particularly low frequency noise, were simply not an issue. The council environmental health officer confirmed that noise projections submitted with the application were in order and that sound from the wind turbine would not be heard above background wind noise.
Peter Checkley, the owner of Castle Farm said
We are delighted with this outcome – we are one step closer to our dream of zero-carbon fruit production
Disten now has two fully approved schemes with many more in the pipeline.
A video webcast of the proceedings can be viewed online.