Dismay over wind farm approval

BRITAIN'S oldest national conservation body, The Open Spaces Society says it is dismayed Cornwall County councillors have overturned the advice of their officers and approved plans to build 20 wind turbines, each 126.5-metres high, at Davidstow Wood, near Camelford.

The society was among the many objectors, which included the Ramblers.

Kate Ashbrook, the society's general secretary said: "We deplore this decision, which appears to ignore the advice of the professionals.

The officers' recommendation was clear, that 'the wind farm, by reason of its size and scale in close proximity to the peaks of Roughtor and Brown Willy and the Bodmin Moor Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, will have an unacceptably harmful impact on the landscape character of the area, detracting from its special landscape features and its remote, wild and tranquil qualities'.

"These turbines, sited in a spectacular area of countryside, will be over twice the height of Nelson's Column.

"They will be an eyesore from nearby, and from the slopes and summit of Roughtor and Brown Willy, both popular destinations for walkers and riders.

"They will generate noise, shattering the peace of the area. They are on land on which the public has a right to walk and clearly will interfere with that right."