Planners reject Darwen turbine plan (From This Is Lancashire)

Planners reject Darwen turbine plan

4:42pm Monday 15th October 2012 in News By Dan Clough, Reporter

CONTROVERSIAL plans to erect a wind turbine on land at Cranberry Moor have been thrown out by council planners.

The application, by Elizabeth Gott, of Pleasant View Farm, off Bolton Road, was refused under delegated powers before getting as far as the planning committee.

The plans, submitted by agent CMS UK, on behalf of Ms Gott, would have seen a turbine with a total height, to the top of the blade, of 64.2metres.

Nearby residents had launched the campaign group Against Cranberry Turbine (ACT) as a response to the application, and have been objecting to a number of turbine applications across the borough.

Planning officials at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council cited two reasons for turning down the application.

They said: “The proposal is considered to be an unavoidable feature that would have a dominant and oppressive impact on adjacent dwellings and garden areas, thereby having an unacceptable adverse impact on the amenity of adjacent residents.

“Insufficient information has been submitted by the applicant to determine the likely noise impact, or otherwise, of the proposal on adjacent residents,” they continued.

It was the second attempt by the Gotts, after an initial application for an 88.5metre turbine – bigger than India Mill – was withdrawn earlier this year.

ACT group leader Martin Vizzard said: “We are very pleased the proposal has been refused.

“We would now ask any other wind turbine companies to get in touch with us.

“When planning these turbines, companies should engage with the community that would be affected and, at the moment they, are not.”

Whitehall councillor David Foster said: “I am very pleased. We have been pushing for the council to come up with a policy, or guidelines, on wind turbines.”

It has not been confirmed, at this stage, whether the applicants will appeal against the council’s refusal of the application.