27th November 2011
*** STOP PRESS *** STOP PRESS *** STOP PRESS ***
There has been yet another proposal on land very near to the proposed Little Waver Wind Farm site this time for a single 80m turbine. Please see new page on Lane Head for details and a link to the application.
16th November 2011
The anemometry mast which marks the site of the proposed Little Waver Wind Farm is 70m tall. It is not difficult to grasp the scale of the proposed development if one imagines eight turbines which will, at 110m, be 40m taller than the mast!
So far as we are able to ascertain, Your Energy have not yet carried out any baseline noise monitoring work although we know that this is due to begin now that the mast is in place. Other studies by Your Energy, including visual, landscape and ecological impact assessments, are scheduled to continue into next year and so the wind farm application itself is now expected at some time between April and June. A second series of public information days will be arranged by Your Energy in March or April 2012.
This website will be updated immediately if there are any changes to the predicted timeframe.
___________________________________________________
26th October 2011
The anemometer is now up! We expect to learn more about Your Energy's planned agenda at the next meeting of Boltons Parish Council which takes place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 8th November.
Parishioners and Press all welcome!
___________________________________________________
13 August 2011
Outcome of Development Panel Meeting
Allerdale Borough Council approved Your Energy’s application for an anemometer at the proposed Little Waver wind farm site. Three objectors and the Chairman of Boltons Parish Council each spoke for five minutes. The Managing Director of Your Energy, Richard Mardon, was allowed twenty minutes to explain the applicant’s case. He did not perform well.
The decision was reached after lengthy questioning and discussion during which it emerged that councillors were unwilling to approve but felt their hands were tied because the Planning Inspectorate keeps overturning their refusals. Indeed, within the last couple of weeks the Inspector has reversed Allerdale’s decision to refuse the anemometer mast proposed at Reathwaite Farm in Rosley and has also awarded costs to the developer in that case!
In spite of the objectors urging councillors to stand their ground and not succumb to coercive pressure from the Planning Inspectorate, 6 voted to approve the application, 4 to refuse and 3 abstained. Two councillors from Wigton whose votes may have influenced the result (not to mention the result of the previous item on the agenda – an unpopular housing development in Wigton) were not at the meeting!
For a further account of what took place at the Development Panel, please see the News & Star report.
We now await the application for the turbines themselves which is expected in November or December of this year. Of course that will be a different battle entirely and we are already preparing our campaign.
___________________________________________________
1 August 2011
The agenda for the Development Panel Meeting on Tuesday 9th August has now been published. This includes the Planning Officer’s report to the panel, which gives detail of the thought processes involved and arguments considered, and culminates in a ‘recommendation’ to the panel based on the Planning Officer’s interpretation of all this information. In this case, the recommendation is to approve the mast application.
The Councillors who make up the panel are not obliged to follow this recommendation. They will hear representations on the day from both sides and can ask questions before reaching a decision democratically,
It would be very helpful for councillors to see that there is significant interest in development at this location, so please do come if you are able, it is a very important step in the resistance to the windfarm development.
The Development Panel meeting will take place at
The Wave, Irish St, Maryport at 1pm on Tuesday 9th August.
Thank you.
___________________________________________________
27 July 2011
Allerdale Borough Council will consider the application for an anemometer (or met mast) at the proposed Little Waver windfarm site at the next meeting of the Development Panel which will take place at
Allerdale Borough Council will consider the application for an anemometer (or met mast) at the proposed Little Waver windfarm site at the next meeting of the Development Panel which will take place at
The Wave, Irish St, Maryport
Tuesday 9th August at 1pm.
Although quite a formal occasion, the meeting of the Development Panel is open to the public so any of us who can attend are free to do so. A large supportive audience will be most helpful and will indicate to councillors the strength of feeling about this part of Cumbria.
Please continue to check this website for updates on this meeting, and do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information on this. (Contacts link at top of page)
___________________________________________________
22 July 2011
On Tuesday evening last week, whilst the Your Energy exhibition was still taking place in the village hall at Bolton Low Houses, the Parish Council held a very well attended meeting at the school. During the meeting, our petition was presented to the councillors. At that time, 71 signatures had been collected. After discussion, Boltons Parish Council voted overwhelmingly to object to the anemometry mast which Your Energy is currently applying to have erected on land at The Close (proposed site of Little Waver Wind Farm).
On Tuesday evening last week, whilst the Your Energy exhibition was still taking place in the village hall at Bolton Low Houses, the Parish Council held a very well attended meeting at the school. During the meeting, our petition was presented to the councillors. At that time, 71 signatures had been collected. After discussion, Boltons Parish Council voted overwhelmingly to object to the anemometry mast which Your Energy is currently applying to have erected on land at The Close (proposed site of Little Waver Wind Farm).
On the second day of Your Energy’s exhibition, a further 44 signatures were added to our petition making a total of 115 – at least 95% of people who visited the exhibition!
There are fewer than one hundred households in the village of Bolton Low Houses itself so we feel that the petition gives us a very clear indication of the strength of local opposition to the proposals. Of course, it isn’t just the 8 turbines proposed at The Close that we are concerned with, but also a further 3 at High Pow, with additional plans for 11 at neighbouring Reathwaite which will also be very visible and all in the same stretch of countryside.
No doubt you will have already looked in the direction of Silloth and noticed the wind farm being built at Hellrigg. Already approved and waiting to be built are wind farms at Tallentire and Westnewton. Indeed the situation is now critical because we have so many potential wind farm developments at various stages in the planning process, that we are in danger of building a ring of steel around the Lake District. I would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to a new website www.cumbriawindwatch.co.uk – initiated by Rory Stewart MP - which maps out existing and proposed wind farms. West Cumbria seems to be particularly at risk and an easy target for huge development corps not all of which, it must be said, specialise in renewable energy.
It is perfectly possible to be in favour of renewable energy but yet to feel that unspoiled rural landscapes are not the right place to build turbines of massive proportions. You may also feel that West Cumbria already has its fair share of them. There is no shame in that feeling. The issue of whether wind turbines can ever be the answer to the questions posed by climate change is a completely separate one.
An opposition group to the wind farm developments at Little Waver and High Pow has been formed by members of FORCE (Friends of Rural Cumbria’s Environment) who opposed the original High Pow wind farm, which was indeed refused by Allerdale and only went ahead when an appeal reached Government Inspectorate level. Our new group is called Boltons FORCE. We believe that this time things are different because now an entire swathe of local countryside is under threat.
We undertake to keep you informed of matters arising in relation to High Pow and Little Waver wind farms and are already in the process of arranging a meeting with Tony Cunningham MP who expresses a growing concern about wind farm proliferation in West Cumbria. We are currently setting up our own website at www.littlewaver.co.uk where you will be able to follow events.
In the meantime, we ask simply that you watch this space. If you know anyone else who would like to show their support, then please ask them to contact me by phone, email or post so that their names can be added to the petition. I am aware that many parishioners wanted to attend the Your Energy exhibition but were unable to. Additionally, I know that many of you live outside Boltons parish but share our horror at what is being done to West Cumbria at this time. Visitors from other parts of the UK and abroad who would be deterred from coming to this area because of the cumulative effect of too many turbines are also welcome to sign up. There is little doubt that wind farm proliferation is going to affect tourism in this area if it hasn’t done so already.
If you have any spare time at the right time or any particular skills that you are willing to share with us (printing, making signs, anything at all) then please do let us know. You can contact me at this email address or telephone 077991 662105. If I don’t answer right away, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Finally, if you visited the Your Energy exhibition and picked up a prepaid card inviting you to state your views, then I urge you to please fill it in and send it back if you have not already done so. We know that Your Energy are planning to present these cards to Allerdale as a means of strengthening their case. If you did not pick up a card and would like to fill one in, we have a limited supply and would be happy to provide you with one. Contact as above.
Thank you once again for your support,
Marion Fitzgerald
Tel: 07791 662105
Lane Head Farmhouse
Bolton Low Houses
Wigton
Cumbria
CA7 8PA
Your Energy are currently preparing a planning application for 8 turbines to be constructed on land between Bolton Low Houses and Boltongate. This is adjacent the to the 3 turbines which have already been constructed on land at High Pow Farm.
The developers website provides plans of where they intend to site these structures, as well as some additional information for you to read. It can be found here.
Updates on our campaign can be found here and also at Cumbria Wind Watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment