Six strikes against Cranfield wind turbines

I wouldn't say it was an anti-climax but the odds seemed overwhelming against the "Cranborough" 6-windfarm planning application.

There was opposition from the Airfield, from the Forest Centre, professional planners and of course the Cranfield groundswell mobilised by ACT. The council received 368 letters of objection.

The final vote at Development Management Committee in Central Beds Council this morning (see above) was nine against and one for. There was an abstention hanging around somewhere.

The planning officers stated : "The (proposal) is considered to have a detrimental impact on the landscape character of the area, residential visual and noise amenity and visual amenity from recreational areas within the Vale. The harm would outweigh the benefits of harnessing wind power." The recommended refusal on six grounds including siting and scale; impact on historic environment; lack of information and conflict with national and CBC policies.

The officers specifically criticised FCC for not supplying information needed to assess the application against some of these policies. Given that no rep from FCC turned up to speak in favour the company displayed a cavalier attitude.

There were individual statements to the committee from Cranfield's Cllr Sue Clark, Cllr Alan Bastable, Parish Cllr Roger Baker, chair of the PC planning committee and Peter Gardner of ACT (Against Cranfield Turbines). Cranfield's Cllr Ken Matthews chaired the committee.

Turbine protest in Cranfield

The protest against proposed wind turbines on the old Brogborough landfill is site is scheduled for Saturday 21 June at 10.30. Get up to date with Against Cranfield Turbines (ACT) facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/cranfieldagainstwindturbines/

Update from Against Cranfield Turbines

ACT don't send me any updates but this is the latest posting from their website written by Cllr Sue Clark. 

We are still waiting for the Brogborough wind turbine application to be submitted to Central Beds Council. I spoke to FCC the landfill operator, last week, and it is clear they are still working towards submission, but their application has been delayed again. I'd guess it will be another 2 to 4 weeks before it is submitted. Once it is submitted, it should only take Central Beds 3 -5 working days to register it and upload the application onto the web site. Once that happens, they will be able to take comments. We will of course keep you closely posted, and intend to step up our campaign to raise public awareness once the application is submitted and registered. 26/11/13

Stewartby wind turbine application

FCC have also submitted an entirely separate application for a single 90 metre turbine at Stewartby Landfill site. This application will be determined by Beds Borough Council. This application is open for comments now, and if you would like to look at the application, the number is 13/02125/FUL - you can find the details on the Beds Borough web site here . There does not appear to be a deadline for making comments at the moment.

We have decided that ACT will OBJECT to this application for a single turbine at Stewartby, on the grounds of cumulative visual impact on the Marston Vale. (That’s taking into account the permissioned turbine at Marston Forest Centre, the Covanta Incinerator, and the 6 possible turbines at Brogborough landfill site). The turbine will be sited close to the 4 brick chimneys, and will be clearly visible from Cranfield. We are in the process of writing our response, and will circulate it to you as soon as it is ready. 26/11/13

Contact ACT at against.cranfield.turbines@gmail.com

Making a point

It's all quiet for now on the wind farm front but one Cranfield resident is making their feelings clear...

Against Cranfield Turbines

Contact details for Against Cranfield Turbines
By email against.cranfield.turbines@gmail.com
And find them on Facebook

Stop the presses

Bedford Times and Citizen's report on the Against Cranfield Turbines  meeting last week on wind turbines. Check out Times and Citizen

Wind energy and health

New material from ACT (Against Cranfield Turbines) is accessible 
at this link
European Platform Against Windfarms


Karen Diamond of ACT who sent it writes:

"The link is from a Canadian documentary ‘Wind Rush’ It’s about the effects of wind turbine noise on people’s health. What's interesting in the new documentary WIND RUSH is not the usual mantra about clean energy. What's interesting is that the health effects of windfarms are recognised by health professionals, and explained very clearly. So we made an abridged version grouping the parts that help understand why there is a health problem. It's an eye-opener for most people. It will be of interest to the people living in Cranfield."




There is a full report of the ACT public meeting last week in the forthcoming Cranfield Express - out on Thursday