Hayley MaceProposals to build wind turbines to help power a Bernard Matthews' factory in north Suffolk could be approved by planners later this month.Hayley Mace
Proposals to build wind turbines to help power a Bernard Matthews factory in north Suffolk could be approved by planners later this month.
The company wants to build
five 100m high turbines on land at
the former airfield in Holton,
near Halesworth, as part of its
multi-million-pound investment in green energy for its sites.
On Wednesday next week,
members of Waveney District Council's development control committee will discuss the scheme, which has been recommended
for approval by the council's planners.
A report for the committee said:
"It is considered that any
proposed wind farm, by its very nature, will inevitably have some impact on landscape and visual amenity.
"However these effects have to
be balanced against the government's firm commitment
to renewable energy generation… While there will be particular
local impacts in an area of surrounding countryside, these impacts are not considered to be so significant as to warrant refusal of permission."
The report said that any
effect on the landscape will not be permanent because the turbines
are only proposed to be in place for 25
years and that the area does not
have any official landscape designation which requires it to be protected, as it is about 4km
away from the edge of
the Suffolk coast and heaths
area of outstanding natural
beauty.
Local campaign group
Westhall Wind Watch has been fighting against the plans ever since they were first tabled. Group spokesman Adrian Simpson-Jones said: "The only argument in
favour of this particular
application is that it is government policy to have onshore wind
farms. Every other argument is against it, and indeed it is
against Waveney's own policy of conserving and enhancing the countryside.
"We are very concerned that, in recommending approval, the planners have ignored serious shortcomings in the
application. There is no
evidence that there is sufficient wind energy available to meet the requirements for planning approval."
He said that concerns raised over the location of nearby listed buildings and a public right of way had not been addressed.
Bernard Matthews' green
plans also include building
two turbines near the firm's headquarters in Weston
Longville and two more at North Pickenham.
A decision on the proposals to build the wind turbines is expected to be made by Waveney District Council's development control committee at a meeting at Lowestoft Town Hall on Wednesday, October 21 at 6pm.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here