Scheme for nine wind turbines overlooking Kirkby Lonsdale officially announced (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Scheme for nine wind turbines overlooking Kirkby Lonsdale officially announced

4:46pm Thursday 12th November 2009

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ENERGY company E.on has officially announced its plans to build nine, 110-metre tall wind turbines on farmland overlooking Kirkby Lonsdale.

The company has submitted a report to Lancaster City Council detailing proposals for the 80-hectare site at Longfield Tarn, which lies roughly 700 metres away from houses at High Big-gins off the A65.

The plan – formerly known as the proposal – has drawn criticism from campaign groups already fighting separate windfarm plans in the Lune Valley at Sillfield, Gatebeck, and Armistead, Old Hutton.

The Armistead windfarm plan, which was given the go-ahead after a public inquiry, is being challenged in the High Court and the result of the Sillfield inquiry is awaited.

E.on says the site would pro-duce 20 megawatts of energy – enough to power 9,000 homes and displace 19,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The turbines will be visible more than 10 kilometres away from the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Parks, as well as the Arnside and Silver-dale Area of Outstanding Nat-ural Beauty.

Mike Hall of opposition campaign group Friends of Eden, Lakeland and Lunesdale Scenery (Fells) said: “This is exactly what we’ve been warning people would happen for eight years. Let one windfarm in and more will follow. If it goes ahead it will be the nail in the coffin of the Lune Valley as a scenic area.”

Brian Acott of Stop Turbines in Lunesdale Environemnt (STILE) added: “Soon you will be navigating the whole area from Caton in the south to north of Kirkby Lonsdale and east of Kendal from one mass of turbines to the next.

“The whole character of the area will be changed. Will people still want to live in or visit such a place?”

However, a spokeswoman for E.on said neither aesthetic nor ecological impact would be considered grounds for with-drawing a full planning app-lication due in April.

Nick Taylor, project developer at E.on, said: “It’s still very early days for the project but we do believe this is an excellent location for a windfarm.

“It’s through developments like this that we can change the way we produce energy, helping us to keep people’s lights on, while reducing our impact on the environment.” E.on hassubmitted a separate planning application to build a meteorological mast on the site to gauge windspeed.

Lancaster City Council Plann-ing Officer Peter Rivet said the council would be ‘hard pressed’ to refuse the application because the Longfield Tarn site did not fall within a protected area near Leck, earmarked for inclusion in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

He is writing to neighbouring authorities for their opinion on the windfarm.

E.on will be asked to submit an Environmental Impact Assess-ment detailing how the proposal could affect ecology and wildlife, with a full planning application in April.

A full consultation will take place involving local authorities and people neighbouring the proposal.

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