Sheepdrove pushes for second turbine

Local people have been invited to have their say at a special meeting of Lambourn Parish Council on Wednesday.
It is expected to be well attended as both the first turbine and the original application for the second, put forward in April, have provoked very vocal objections from residents, the horseracing industry and conservationists, including a protest outside West Berkshire Council offices in Newbury.
The revised plan has moved the location of the proposed 5KW Evance R9000 wind turbine with 15-metre tower to take account of bats in nearby barns, and will now be sited on land to the west of the farm .
It will, states the application, allow the farm to produce its own green electricity, reduce its carbon footprint and increase its self-sustainability.
It continues: “The openness of the landscape will help to absorb the small-scale turbine and will reduce the visual impact.
“The structure will be visible from certain viewpoints but, given its location and its scale, it will not have an adverse effect on the overall character of the landscape; nor will it significantly harm its quality or value.
“The barn and the nearby wood provide some screening from certain viewpoints and help detract from the prominence of the turbine.”
However, critics disagree.
One of them – local resident James Noble – wrote to West Berkshire Council to object: “This is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There is no justification for an unsightly turbine here.
“It can ... be seen from quite a distance from several different directions. It will create noise in an area of great tranquillity.
“I object most strongly to this application ... this is exactly how to ruin an outstandingly beautiful piece of countryside.”
Another, Arthur Pease, wrote: “This is a beautiful bit of country ... If this were to be allowed, it would encourage larger turbines to be developed in the area.”
The Lambourn Trainers’ Association has yet to comment on the revised plan.
However, chairman Peter Walwyn said of the previous proposal for an 18m turbine: “We oppose in every way the application for the erection of a wind turbine at Sheepdrove Farm.
“They are ugly, very uneconomic, expensive and a blot on the landscape of a site of outstanding natural beauty.”
The parish council is currently in summer recess but an extraordinary meeting has been called to discuss the application and to allow local people their say.
Lambourn parish council spokesman Dr Peter Cox said: “It will then be up to the councillors to decide whether to conclude with support, no objections or object on the basis of the evidence presented.”
The meeting will take place at the Memorial Hall, 7.30pm.
Comments on the application can be registered by visiting the planning page at www.west berks.gov.uk, reference 13/01676 /FUL.