December 17, 2012 11.01 am This story is over 135 months old

Council stance against wind farms to be turned into official policy

Policy consultation: Lincolnshire County Council Leader Martin Hill wants to turn its stance against the expansion of wind farms into official council policy.
Photo: Vera Kratochvil

Lincolnshire County Council Leader Martin Hill said the authority is looking to turn its stance against the expansion of wind farms into official council policy next year.

Earlier this year, the authority said “enough is enough” to the proliferation of wind farms across Lincolnshire in recent years.

There are 75 wind turbines in the county, with dozens more in the pipeline.

Planning applications for wind farms under 50Mw are determined by district councils, with the County Council as a potential discretionary consultee.

Planning applications for wind farms 50Mw and above are determined by the Secretary of State, with the county council as a statutory consultee.

Councillor Martin Hill, Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Although supportive of alternative energy, we do question the efficiency of turbines and their impact on the county’s residents, landscapes and tourism industry.

“In June our executive members agreed a set of guidelines we hoped would be taken into consideration by local planning authorities and developers when deciding where to locate new developments.

“To give these more weight, we now want to turn our stance into an official council policy. However, it’s only right that we should first ask residents their opinion.”

The Lincolnshire County Council survey on wind farms