Giant turbines bid sparks fury

PLANS for massive new turbines at a Cornish wind farm will be discussed by councillors today as the fight over whether to install them intensifies.

Energy giant Scottish Power wants to replace its 15 turbines at Carland Cross, near Newquay, with 10 new versions that, at 100m, are double the height of the existing machinery.

The plan has caused a storm of public fury among local residents, who fear the effect the turbines will have on the landscape will not equal the benefits from the electricity generated.

Residents Against Turbines (Rats), the local action group, has been battling to have the plans thrown out. Chairman Steve Bazeley said many local residents were opposed to the plans that would ruin the landscape.

He said: "We're told that the new turbines will be cleaner and more efficient but we don't believe that because they only operate for 27 per cent of the time. The rest of the time, they are just standing idle. These wind turbines are inefficient and expensive.

"This is all about the Government helping the big energy companies to make a profit while ticking European boxes on reductions in Co2 emissions."

The meeting could also shed light on how council changes in Cornwall could affect plans for wind farms.

The county council will discuss the plans but has no power to approve or ban them. But the unitary One Cornwall authority, which replaces the county council and districts later this year, will have that power.

As part of the wider plan, new service roads will be built at Newlyn Downs and adjacent farmland immediately to the west towards the A30 and Fiddlers Green. The move will treble the area of land to be leased from the landowner, Trewithen Estate.

Mr Bazeley said that since the original wind farm was set up, residents had learned to live with it but that the latest plans were a step too far.

He said: "We have to protect our countryside and the very spaces that makes our county so special. We are really worried that the place will end up being a wind farm called Cornwall."

The plans are to be discussed by the planning (development control) committee at County Hall, Truro.

Councillors will talk about the plans and give their views before the matter is referred back to Carrick District Council, which will make the final decision.

The plans are scheduled to be discussed at Carrick on March 11.

A spokesman for Scottish Power last night insisted the new turbines would be good news for Cornwall.

He said: "The current turbines on the site are old and it's extremely difficult to get the parts to maintain them. They have been there since 1992.

"The new turbines are far more efficient and make a greater contribution to our renewable energy needs which will benefit everyone in the long-run.

"The Government has set renewable energy targets that must be met. As gas and coal becomes scarcer and scarcer we have to find better alternatives."

Meanwhile, moves to build more wind turbines in other parts of the county are being met with equal public fervour.

Last month plans to build a 412ft (127-metre) high turbine at the Eden Project were dumped after local protesters launched a campaign.

The two-megawatt turbine would have provided a clean electricity supply and generated more than 100 per cent of Eden's energy needs in a year.

But members of the Neighbours' Forum objected to the move at the northern side of the site outside Bugle, near St Austell, because of the increase in noise from the turbine.

Other objections included visual impact, disturbance to animals and concerns that property values and health would be affected.

Campaigners in North Cornwall are fighting plans to build a wind farm at Davidstow Woods and on farmland to the South. Residents in Camelford and Davidstow are objecting to plans by Community Windpower Ltd to build 20 wind turbines.

If given the go-ahead, the wind farm will tower over the surrounding countryside, with each turbine stretching 413 feet (126 metres) tall. Protesters fears the turbines will ruin the landscape and that the spot is not suitable as it is on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Community Windpower submitted proposals for 20 turbines which would generate 131,400 million units of electricity per year – enough electricity to power about 28,000 homes.

The company says the wind farm would generate 50 per cent of Cornwall's renewable energy target for 2010. Plans have yet to go before North Cornwall District Council.