Wind farm developer slammed over lorry figures
A developer planning to build a controversial wind farm near Tewkesbury has been accused of underhand tactics.
Residents fighting Wind Prospect's plans to build three turbines at Upper Strensham claim the company deliberately provided misleading details about lorry movements.
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protest: Dave Wallbank and Rod Wood join other demonstrators angry at plans for wind turbines. Inset, where a road to the turbines could go
But the company has stressed it made a genuine error and did not mean to mislead.
Rod Wood, of Strensham Wind Action Group, said: "They're supposed to be one of the most experienced developers in the UK. To think they could get it wrong by a factor of two is ridiculous."
Wind Prospect has yet to apply for planning permission for the 126-metre high turbines, which would go on farm land at Upper Strensham, overlooking the M5 and M50.
However, the company is expected to apply shortly and has already got permission for a wind monitoring mast to obtain information it will need.
It has now submitted an application to build an access track which would be used by lorries if the turbines are built.
It would be created in Strensham Road, Strensham, an area under the jurisdiction of Wychavon District Council.
Wind Prospect estimates there would be 679 lorry journeys on the road while the turbines are built — but admits it originally told Wychavon District Council there would be 302.
Mr Wood said the lorries would come along the A38 and then go into the village of Ryall via a very narrow road.
That route, he said, was used by lots of horses and so the lorries could put the safety of them and their riders at risk.
Alastair Smith, of Wind Prospect, denied the company had tried to mislead anyone.
He said: "We identified that there was an error in the figures provided. I was disappointed that it happened, to be honest. It was a genuine mistake.
"We've said to Wychavon 'here are the correct figures' so it's disingenuous to say we've hidden anything.
"We need not to lose sight of the fact that the lorries will be there over a period of six-to-nine months.
"It will be an average of four per day, which to my mind is not a large number."
5 Comments
by Craig Hayward, Wiltshire
Friday, December 04 2009, 8:52AM
“Hevent these local people got the message yet! Wind farms need to be built & can do without delays.. Already 100s of wind farm plans have been scrapped or put on hold due to locals kicking up a fuss!! COME ON!! Stop being so damn selfish! The ironic thing is, most of these people would say they are all for green projects.. just not in somewhere they can see them!!
I'm sorry, but this type of development is progress & things need to change at an alarming fast rate, I would happily have one in my back garden!
At the end of the day it's the locals who end up loosing out. On the news the other day, there was one particular Village who had the right idea, they got involved in a nearby wind farm development & managed to have a turbine built for them.. Now the Village is turning a tidy some of money, which could be shared about or re-invested into community projects!
WHEN WILL THESE NEGATIVE & MINDLESS PEOPLE WHO CONTINUE TO PUT THE FUTURE OF THEIR LOVED AT THREAT REALISE, THIS TYPE OF THING, SIMPLY HAS TO HAPPEN!!
Yes we might end up with one quite a large number of turbines.. But why should that be a problem?
you have to hand it to them really, all this time they have to spend on getting planning refused, driving around in their Land Rovers, parking up, leaving the engine running, whilst sitting in the car to protest on a cold morning. That alone isn't bad the atmosphere is it. Then, after, they return home, to a cosy, pre-heated house, probably having left the heating on for the entire time they were out.. I'm not having a go, they probably did at least turn the thermostat down.. a bit.. One might dare to say, they may have even stretched to closing each rooms doors to conserve heat.
You know what, maybe I was a bit harsh on these people before, these are the people who live in the sticks, drive petrol eating cars.. They deserve some praise, from somebody. These are the wonderful types, who have one child & make that all important school run, in a Range Rover, then, go to the local town, to do the shopping, in the Range Rover. These are the types who don't have to worry about hose pipe bans, they have a huge garden, it all needs watering, good on em'!”
by Itdoesn'tmatter, Upton upon Severn
Thursday, March 26 2009, 9:09PM
“¿Mr Wood said the lorries would come along the A38 and then go into the village of Ryall via a very narrow road.¿
Ninety nine percent of the village of Ryall is West of the A38. The lorries will turn East off the A38 towards Strensham. The residents of Ryall already have the luxury of making their village a no-go location by establishing a no-access road from the A38 to the A4104 road into Upton upon Severn.
¿That route, he said, was used by lots of horses and so the lorries could put the safety of them and their riders at risk.¿
I have commuted on this road for more than twenty years and have never witnessed a horse. Perhaps these newly-found equestrians could be public spirited and ride their horses in fields where they are not putting the lives of road users at more risk? Horses and roads are a Health and Safety issue.
¿Rod Wood, of Strensham Wind Action Group, said: "They're supposed to be one of the most experienced developers in the UK. To think they could get it wrong by a factor of two is ridiculous."¿ I assume he meant a multiple of two?
Would I object to a wind farm in my back yard? No. I would be happy to see the development of any form of alternative energy conversion that has the likely effect of extrapolating the life of this planet. The effect of this development will have a minimal effect on local residents once it is established. We can only strive to provide the best environment for our offspring in the final reckoning. Our final epitaph is inevitably ¿fought hard but lost¿, but I do believe that the demise of our planet should be left to the life cycle of the Sun and not the idiocy of mankind.”
by Giles, Chelt
Monday, March 23 2009, 9:53AM
“Great just what we need .....more lorrys on the road!!”
by Tom Stickland, Stroud
Monday, March 23 2009, 9:30AM
“What a bunch on Nimbys. It's next to two busy motorways anyway.”
by Joe K, Gloucester
Monday, March 23 2009, 9:29AM
“This is clutching at straws, taking issue about the traffic created while constructing the wind farm.
If the complaint was about lorries coming in, picking up wind, and leaving, for the foreseeable life of the wind farm, I could see some point. Of course, that's not going to happen.
This isn't the only objection, of course, but the principle one, that they don't work when it's calm and have to be locked when it's too windy, evades the point that if even small domestic windmills cut electricity costs, these commercial ones must reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Not in the case of all those diesel fuelled lorries that will driving around the countryside for a few months, but they, and the builders, will be a shot in the arm for local businesses.”