Vow to fight turbines plan
Saturday 17th May 2008, 1:36PM BST.
Villagers near the site of a proposed windfarm in Shropshire have vowed to fight the plans which they claim would blight the countryside for generations to come.They have come up with a battle plan including bombarding the district council with postcards protesting over the scheme for wind turbines at Lower Farm, Bearstone Road, Norton-In- Hales.
Energy company Nuon Renewables has applied for seven turbines, each 110m in height and 80m in diameter.
A formal consultation period for 21 days begins on Monday and North Shropshire District Council hopes to make a decision by September. Terry May, coordinator of Vortex (Veto on Rural Turbine Expansion), said the group would fight to save the landscape.
She said they would be encouraging villagers to make objections to the district council and would be sending out a special edition of the Vortex newsletter.
“These are not just fields, this land is desperately precious to us and they are degenerating it by just calling it fields.
“We are strongly protective of our landscape and our people, and we don’t want a development in the area like this, particularly not one that is likely to cause intrusion into people’s lives.
“We are putting as much information as we’ve got on our website and will be manning the Loggerheads information shop on Monday mornings and Thursday evenings throughout June so people can come and talk to us about it.
“We’re also sending out a special edition of our Vortex newsletter, with postcards addressed to the district council so people can write straight off,” she said.
The latest Vortex newsletter, titled The Countryside is not Renewable, says: “Industrial turbines of this size would dominate totally this small scale fragile landscape and would have a serious impact on both wildlife and the people who live and work in the area, including the village of Knighton and the hamlets of Bearstone and Dorrington.”
The Vortex website is www.vortex.uk.net and the plans can also be viewed at North Shropshire District Council’s base in Wem or by contacting Woore Parish Council on (01630) 647702.
No-one from Nuon was available to comment today.
By Abigail Bates
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So where did you want this nuclear power station building then?
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Don’t you get sick to death of village nimbys complaining about anything and everyting. Get real nimbys. Renewable energy is the way forward.
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Good point, Steve.
NIHNP. Norton In Hales Nuclear Power. They’ll put in a planning application for a nuclear power plant very soon.
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fuel prices going up ever day. but all we hear is NOT IN MY TOWN…
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I think it’s sad that people have this attitude. On a recent drive to Scotland I couldn’t take my eyes off the turbines that can be seen from the motorway, I find them quite amazing to watch. I live in a village and this “village nimby” would welcome plans for a wind farm. My house backs onto a large public car park and would much prefer to have that replaced by a wind farm and get rid of the noisy groups that all gather there to compare their car stereos on a Friday and Saturday night.
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You can put them up in my beautiful village.
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yes wind turbines are successful but not in shropshire, put them out at sea, where the wind blows. hands of shropshire. there is a good quiz clue about this area, ie vintage motor bike breathing, norton inhales, gettit
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NIMBY?!
I am glad to see people that care for their local environment and are willing to become personally involved.
People like Neil, Steve, Matt and Lucy are like those grey unsmiling faces that I see in the shopping centres and rushing down the highways. As long as they can have their things to spend money on and someone else to make their decisions for them then they’re happy. And when they do notice people doing something active about their environment (instead of waiting for some government think tank) then they shriek some label like ‘NIMBY’ or something else idiotic.
Good luck to those fighting to protect their surroundings and taking a stand and for taking it as the personal attack that it is.
I don’t think they stand a chance because at the end of the day its all about the money, but good luck anyway because my lovely village could be next.
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Sorry Marco but Vortex are NIMBYs. Saving the environment is what wind Turbines are all about. I see nothing is mentioned about alternatives in the article. Nuclear power would be far worse. We’re a long way from the sea and need a source of alternative power closer to home. Perhaps we could flood a few valleys for hydro electric power or maybe dig a few massive holes in the land, haul out the coal and replace with landfill?
Wind turbines are in my view at least, aesthetically pleasing and a green solution to a major problem. The more there are about, the better.
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I totally agree with you Andy H.
And Marco, what’s with the personal attacks? You know nothing about me other than the fact that I’m not opposed to wind turbines. Fair enough, air your views but there’s no need to make unreasonable assumptions about others who don’t share your opinion.
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it looks like i’m going to have open cast coal mining on my doorstep, i think i’d much rather have a few wind turbines.
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I propose Central Networks cut the supply of Electricity to this village for a week and see how long it takes for leafy Norton-In-Hales Nibmy’s to plead for the ‘magnificent electricity giving windmills in the sky’ to be installed in their very back gardens!
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what about those horrible nasty solar panels or do they make your traditional country village look a bit shiny
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