Villagers vow to battle Birdsedge wind farm plan

Feb 25 2010 by Nick Lavigueur, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

BOLT chairman Mick Mellor said they were meeting PRE on March 1 to discuss the plan.

Mr Mellor said the current proposal was deeply unpopular in the village as one turbine was within 450m of homes and less than 600m from the local primary school.

And he said the current plan contravened both EU and Kirklees Council guidelines on the minimum distance between turbines and homes.

He said: “These turbines are actually being built on green belt land within sight of three conservation areas, High Flatts, Upper Cumberworth and Ingbirchworth.

“We’re getting some help from RAW (Residents Against Wind Turbines), who fought an application in Denby Dale and we are also starting a support fund to engage a planning expert.”

PRE spokesman Adrian Millar said the EU 2km rule didn’t apply in the UK and Kirklees’ guidance of ten times the rotor diameter was not a set rule.

He said: “We have put a number of noise monitors around the area and we’ve been surveying the noise levels.

“Our engineers then produced a scheme which place the turbines in the optimal locations.

“We took into account noise and flicker issues and we think we’ve put together an appropriate scale application for the area.”

Mr Millar said incidences of ice throw were extremely rare as the turbines had automatic shut-down systems if they detected ice on the blades and described the chances of the turbine toppling over as “remote”.

Denby Dale ward councillor Jim Dodds, said he and Clr Nigel Patrick had met with Mr Millar and were “dismayed” the controversial plan was going ahead.