June 6, 2013 1.16 pm This story is over 129 months old

Lincolnshire residents get powers to stop wind farm plans

Power of persuasion: Local residents will soon get more powers to block wind farm plans in their communities.
Photo: Stephen Jones

Lincolnshire County Council, which took a stance against wind farms, has welcomed new measures by the government that would allow local residents to block plans to erect wind farms in their communities.

Under new planning rules, residents must be consulted on proposed wind farm developments, meaning they could be blocked if there’s overwhelming opposition.

The new measures also look at the impact on natural and historic environments, plus the cumulative effect of wind turbines.

Councillor Colin Davie, LCC executive member for the environment, said: “We welcome any proposals that give local people a greater say on developments in their community.

“Hopefully, these changes will put a stop to wind farms going ahead against local wishes.

“We suspect that here in Lincolnshire very few communities will be swayed by ‘incentives’ from energy companies.

“That should help bring a halt to the unrestrained invasion of wind farms across the county – something local people have been calling for

“This will make sure that our beautiful and historic landscape isn’t decimated for what appears to be very limited gain, bringing a better balance between our need for green energy and inappropriate developments that ruin the very environment we’re trying to protect.

“However, we now need the government to practice what they preach. An ideal test case will be the proposed development in Orby.

“The county, district and parish councils, alongside the local community, have objected to development on this site for a decade. Hopefully, these new measures will help to stop it going ahead.”

Lincoln MP Karl McCartney is also pleased to see the Government plans.

He said: “I welcome the news that the Government is putting local people at the heart of decision making on onshore wind farms.

“For too long we have seen national energy targets trump local opinion and we have witnessed unsightly and unwanted wind farms as a result.

“We have approximately 6.3GW (4074 turbines) of onshore wind currently in operation and 6.7GW (2857 turbines) under construction or awaiting construction in the UK.

“We have therefore met our 2020 goal nearly seven years ahead of schedule and the further proliferation of unsightly wind farms needs to be curtailed.”