Change of date for Hinkley windfarm public planning meeting
24 October 2005
West Somerset District Council has brought forward by one day the
crucial public meeting of the planning committee to decide on the
Hinkley wind-farm application.
It will now take place on Wednesday 26th October 2005, starting at
10am, with councillors hoping to vote at about 5pm. The meeting is
open to the public, and supporters will gather outside the College
Hall at 9.30am to show their support.
The all-day meeting will take place at Cannington College,
Cannington, Near Bridgwater, Somerset TA5 2LS (more properly known
as the Cannington Centre for Land-based Studies Bridgwater College - see map
below). The nearest large town to Cannington is Bridgwater, approximately 3 miles
away
with
good
rail and road connections.
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Hinkley
windfarm will be sited next to the Hinkley B nuclear power
station and will provide enough safe, clean renewable electricity
for the equivalent of up to 16,000 households saving up to
60,000
tonnes of greenhouse gases each year, as well as meeting more than
half the regional 2010 wind energy target.
Planner's report:
The council planner has recommended refusal of the windfarm application on 2 spurious grounds:
-
The planner states that the application fails to provide adequate information to determine whether blade
throw from turbines would "compromise existing levels of safety within the existing nuclear installation."
Objections have been raised by HSE (Nuclear Installations Inspectorate) & British Energy (BE - they run
Hinkley nuclear power station) concerning turbine blade throw affecting the adjacent nuclear power plant.
A blade throw risk analysis commissioned by the wind developer indicates there is insignificant risk.
The developers have indicated they will remove the 3 turbines closest to the nuclear plant if necessary,
in this event HSE and BE indicate they will drop their objections.
- Bats. The planners report acknowledges that the turbine blades are too high to affect bat flight paths,
but nevertheless he feels that the turbine towers could interfere with bat feeding routes and recommends
rejection of the application on the grounds that insufficient data currently exists to assess whether the
bats will be significantly affected.
English Nature, the statutory consultee on this issue, has written to the Council in response to the
planner's report to state that the local bat population is not at significant risk from the windfarm.
Thus, both objections have been adequately responded to or mitigated. West Somerset District Council
will need to state a good reason to reject the application for a windfarm at Hinkley and at the moment,
despite looking at every angle, they don’t have one. The other myths and issues sometimes voiced concerning
visual and landscape impact, noise, property value, and birds have all been examined within the planner's
report and found not to be valid issues for rejection of the application. This point in the process is
where a strong body of support can help create an atmosphere where the councillors are able to recommend
that the windfarm is built.
Come along to this decisive meeting to show your support for a
renewable clean energy future for West Somerset, and to urge the
council to show the vision to approve this iconic windfarm.
If you are unable to attend the meeting you can still show your
support by texting the word 'WIND' and your name and postcode to
text number 80039 (normal network rate applies). This text support
will then be presented to the council by the wind developer.
Support Hinkley windfarm by attending
the meeting on Wednesday 26th October!
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