TWO 265 foot high wind turbines could be built on Monks Lane towering above hundreds of nearby homes.
Newbury Town Council want to build the vast turbines between Newbury College and Newbury Rugby Club, just 120 yards from residents' doorsteps.
They are sending letters to hundreds of nearby houses asking neighbours' reaction to the proposal, which has been suggested by the town council's “Sustainable Newbury” working group.
At two and a half times the height of Newbury's BT building, the turbines would be the tallest structure on the local horizon.
The 16 acre site they would be built on, currently owned by landowners Sandleford Farm Partnership and on a list of sites put forward to planners for thousands of new homes, would be converted into a community vegetable patch to provide food to the local area.
Standing 50 metres (164 ft) to the hub, and 81 metres (265 ft) to the tip of the propeller blades, they would be visible for miles, and could produce enough energy to power over 1,800 homes.
Environmentalist Stan Green, who first suggested the Monks Lane turbines, said modern technology made them “virtually silent”.
“Noise has reduced greatly. The gearing has got a lot better. It was a problem with early turbines, but not so much now.”
Town council chief executive Graham Hunt said: “We're looking for something that's sizeable, that will generate a significant amount of electricity for a significant number of homes.”
He said that hearing nearby residents' views would be crucial in deciding whether to go ahead.
“They could just say that it is not the sort of thing they're interested in. We're giving them the option to say whatever they want.”
He added: “If the majority of them say they don't want it, then it's a non-starter. We'll look elsewhere, or accept that Newbury isn't going to have wind turbines.”