Developer wins fight to install wind mast
Monday 22nd August 2011, 9:00PM BST.
Developers have won their battle to install a 230ft wind mast at the site of a controversial windfarm on the Shropshire-Staffordshire border.
The decision, made by the planning inspectorate, is a blow to campaigners who fear the company behind the plans will now appeal against an earlier decision by council planning chiefs to refuse six 413ft wind turbines at the same site, on the Bradford Estate near Weston Park.
Wind Prospects has been granted permission by the planning inspectorate for the wind measuring mast after the company launched an appeal against South Staffordshire Council’s decision to reject the proposal.
Now the company has until the autumn to decide whether it will also appeal against the decision of the council to reject the six turbine plan.
The single mast could be installed as early as February.
It will be used by Wind Prospects to collect wind data to assess the potential for a wind farm at the site near Brineton.
The planning inspectorate concluded the mast would have no significant impact on the character or appearance of the surrounding area.
Campaign group Stop the Turbine Action Group (Stag) has said the decision was not unexpected but said it was already planning to fight any future appeal on the wind turbines.
Paul Grimshaw, development manager at Wind Prospect, said: “We’re delighted that the planning inspector agreed with our reasons for appeal and has granted planning permission for this mast.
“We do understand that applications like this can cause local concern.”
Tony Lendon, from Stag, said: “We are disappointed but it was on the cards they were going to get it.
“It doesn’t come as a shock.”
If an appeal for the turbines is lodged, Mr Lendon said it would spark angry responses from nearby residents.
Neighbours of the proposed windfarm site claim the turbines would ruin the landscape if they were to be granted planning permission.
Wind Prospect say electricity generated from such a wind farm would be fed into the local distribution network for use in Shropshire.
It is estimated they would provide power for more than 6,000 homes.
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Theres a difference between a 413ft wind turbine compared to a 230ft one and that’s 183ft. Will these turbines pose any threat to any money making plans on the said estate or is that the idea to make money from having them on THEIR LAND? Just think of the hole err crater that would need and the cement to stabilse that mamma. Who cares about that though only £ signs that matter.
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thank god for common sense
this is proof positive that the localism agenda promoted by the condems is nonsense, local politics cannot deliver the infrastructure uk plc needs only the regional planning inspectors can make sensible judgements based on law, policy and technical and environmental considerations, i propose anything like this should not be allowed to have millions of pounds and hours of all our time wasted by going to little district councils where nimby politicians can waste our money and waste developers time by dragging these things out
the country needs infrastructure, get it built now, if you dont like it, get out of the way
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halilujah! i thought they would never get built! just think of all that clean green electric – fantastic for the economy and climate
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nice photo
when you see them like that they look beautiful i cant understand why the bananas nimbys dont like the look of them
i also feel that purely aesthetic objections (the majority in most cases) are invalid by definition because they are inherantly subjective
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Lovely – a bit of progress against the Nimbys.
Bring on the local, clean energy
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Perhaps people would object less if the turbines were built to look like those shiny coloured plastic ones you used to stick on top of a sandcastle.
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Now there’s a thought I really like.
Nice one Monkey.
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this is a very welcome development which i hope will encourage more big investors to bring their capital to our area and spend to create high tech, high paid jobs in our area, shropshire has a massive wind resource which could create hundreds of very well paid engineering jobs in our area to boost low income levels and stimuate green growth
bring it on
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“Wind Prospect say electricity generated from such a wind farm would be fed into the local distribution network for use in Shropshire.”
Doublespeak! Claiming that its eco friendly and for local homes – its just pushed into the national grid – not exclusively for Shropshire!
So much for democracy!
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..and presumably you also object to electricity from power stations dotted around the country and France from keeping your lights on and computer powered in order to type such drivel?
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Not at all, I think that the modern electricity grid is one one the wonders of the world!
I object to spokespeople using psychological techniques to manipulate public opinion using half truths and even downright lies.
I also object when democracy is ignored in the name of the communist good, while people expressing local concerns are branded with derogatory terms like ‘nimby’.
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marco – do you know what the national grid is?
electricity made in turbines be they gas, steam, wind or whatever is fed in , but it also comes out too, its a 2 way thing, get it?
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Think helen, think! Why did the spokesperson use the exact words that they did? Not an outright lie but definitely misleading and a half truth. As Terry point out, the power could be used anywhere in the country, even in France.
I will give you a clue, read the quote from the company and then read this one: “Wind Prospect say electricity generated from such a wind farm would be fed into the national distribution network for use anywhere in the country.”
Get it? They are trying to get locals to agree to it by saying that its “for use in Shropshire” because that just sounds better than telling the whole truth.
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I don’t know( coupled with exaggerated shake of head). The NIMBYs cannot see that this could be a useful development, if the turbine shows there is insufficient wind movement what more do they need to show that the proposed six turbines would not be cost effective?
A phrase involving vision,trees and wood comes to mind, and these people seek to represent us!
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i live near market drayton not far from this place and i am happy to have it on my doorstep, but then i am an electronic engineer so perhaps i am biased! as i may get some work out of it!
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They are just an eyesore. When I was a lad we didnt have playboys and game stations all over the house and we didnt need wind turbines if these stupid greenies turned off their computers for a bit we wouldnt have to sacrifice the traditional look of the landscape in the name of progress. Progress for whome I ask?
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Not all of us has a “playboy” Mr Evans, but if you know where I can get a playgirl from it would be greatly appreciated!
Also, have you still got one of those steam driven computers. I suggest an upgrade, as you can get spell checkers with the new fangled electric ones.
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Aye, we use t’ gather roun’ joanna in’t parlour an’ sing ‘If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses inbetween’ and count ourselves lucky.
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Perhaps we should dig up the tarmac motorways, roads & streets. We should issue all the young people a hoop ‘n stick & replace their 3G smart andriod phones with chalk and slate.
Just to get fully into this retro-yesteryear thing next time I need minor surgery I’ll go to my barbers for it!
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Perhaps Terry, and other supporters of these windmills, could post a link that details exactly how much energy – on average – is put into national supply annually from the thousands of windmills connected to the national grid?
You know, on a percentage basis.
I’d also like to know how many more of these contraptions would be required to replace all of our power stations. Assuming, of course, that the windmills operate at full rated capacity at all times.
Oh, and all these windmill supporters are comfortable with the mining of neodymium (google it) that is required for the turbines at the environmental cost of shipping it from China, and the social cost of the communities that live next to the mines?
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each turbine produces enough electricity for over 1,000 households, theres about 2,700 in the UK at present – about 3 million homes worth – about 4% of UK total demand
the 2020 government target is 30% of our electricity to come from renewables (some offshore, some solar,biomass, wave etc) so the best projection is that onshore wind will do 9%, 35,000GWh per year.
So if you do the maths, this will require about 4,000 new turbines to go up by 2020.
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Is this the bit where we compete for the most random objections to progress? My turn… How many people have been killed by wind turbines in 2011? And how many from mining coal in China in 2011? Google it.
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Progress?
Bloody progress?
You really consider a switch to energy generation that is dictated by a random, non-linear and unpredictable system (i.e. the weather), and that cannot store any surplus energy, and that must me supported by existing power stations to sustain a steady flow of electricity into supply progress?
You’re on the wrong site, chief.
Shouldn’t you be commenting on here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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” cannot store any surplus energy ”
You never heard of a battery then ?
Or what about Hydro where you store the power by pumping up a hill so you can release the energy later?
or what above moving the electricity to somewhere else where its needed for example via some sort of distribution system of cables, say called a “national grid”
oh and how come you cant store electricity from a wind right but you can store the same electricity if its produced in a coal fired power station then right?
Do you understand much about electricity Winja? it seems not
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I love it when a startlingly ignorant comment is combined with spluttering self-righteousmess.
It’s a beautiful combination there Karen. Cheered me up it has.
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Good news for local photographers. These things look amazig with a long exposure shot at dusk.
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its a nice photo and jake is right it will make a lovely shadow against a sunset background i for one will be down there with my camera to marvel at their beauty as soon as they get built
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for the benefit of Winja
each turbine produces enough electricity for over 1,000 households, theres about 2,700 in the UK at present – about 3 million homes worth – about 4% of UK total demand
the 2020 government target is 30% of our electricity to come from renewables (some offshore, some solar,biomass, wave etc) so the best projection is that onshore wind will do 9%, 35,000GWh per year.
So if you do the maths, this will require about 4,000 new turbines to go up by 2020.
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YES but thats 4,000 on land, there will be quadruple that number atleast put in OFF SHORE at sea to hit that level of power production
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Fine by me, off shore is a good thing, anyway for us its not a problem, shropshire has no coastline!
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For the benefit of karen:
Traditional power stations can adjust their power supplies to the grid as necessary – either up or down as demand requires. Turbines cannot do this. For example, say during a winters day when there is bright blue sky and no wind due to an anti-cyclone above the country. It’s freezing cold, and energy demands are high, but the windmills aren’t spinning.
Conversely, on a mild, wet and windy day there may be no demand for supply from the turbines.
This is notwithstanding, of course – and alluding to my original comment on here – the inefficiency of said turbines.
They never operate at their rated capacity. Never
See here for 2010 data:
http://www.clowd.org.uk/Downloads/UK%20Wind%20Energy/UK%20Metered%20Wind/UK%20Metered%20Windfarms%202010.pdf
And if one wishes to talk about “reducing carbon footprints” and such, think about the CO2 emissions through the thousands of tonnes of concrete required for one windmill foundation, not to mention the infrastructure that requires building to service and install the bloody things, not to mention shipping the neodymium from China for the turbine electromagnets, and shipping all the other equipment to this country from the overseas companies that build the turbines in the first place.
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thats not true winja, a traditional coal fired power station cannot adjust its output, once its fired up it takes days and cost millions to shut in down and start again it has to continuously run 24/7 to keep going there is no flexibility at all, so you are wrong, wrong, wrong
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whats all this fuss, they are welcome expenditure in our otherwise stagnant economy – we need more engineering jobs in the country
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This is really good news for our local economy and for the planet.
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The problem is if you let them in on the borders here its opening the door and next they will be on the long mynd (over my dead body) i dont mind them in cities and such but not in the nice parts of our countryside
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If the UK is to maintain its energy independence, then projects like these are vital. Whether you believe in climate change or not, a secure domestic supply of energy is paramount to our country’s security and economy.
For those folk that don’t work in the energy industry, try to avoid tired old clichés about ‘intermittent supply’; it just demonstrates a lack of understanding of the UK’s generation and distribution systems.
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