The Times , 11 April 2009
Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

Village split by battle of the blades

Ian Leonard thought that it would be a straightforward affair to enter the renewable energy industry by installing two or three wind turbines on his land.

Eight years, three public inquiries and one High Court challenge later, his hopes of harvesting enough green electricity to supply 3,000 homes are still unrealised.

Mr Leonard, a farmer, had hoped to emulate the example set in Germany and the Netherlands, where wind turbines are a common sight on farms. “We need other sources of energy,” he said. “In the long term, hopefully, we will get new renewables from wave power and the sun, but in the short and medium term wind turbines are part of the answer.”

The proposal for wind turbines on Wood Farm at Shipdham, Norfolk, ran into vocal opposition. With Ecotricity, the company behind the scheme, considering revised plans, the project could remain entangled in the planning system for several more years. The turbines have provoked strong feelings in the village of 2,000 people. “It has been deeply divisive,” Geoff Hinchliffe, who led the group that campaigned in support of the turbines, said. “Some people would cross over the road to avoid us.”

Lee Hoare lives closer than all but one other household to the site of the proposed turbines and was concerned about the noise that would be made. When the second public inquiry led to official approval for the turbines, Dr Hoare went to the High Court to get the decision overturned after carrying out her own experiments to establish noise levels.

Last month a public inquiry, the third so far, rejected the scheme.

Source: Village split by battle of the blades

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