For over two years we have been working towards achieving this decision. The journey has been long and arduous and deeply affected many resident’s lives.

Developments of this magnitude require more technical research and more opportunties to consult the communities in a more respectful and consultative way. Not just the odd village hall ‘open evening’ with inadequate paper questionnaires. It must be a community decision ensuring the right technology is in the right environment.

We are aware that this may not be the end of resident’s plight. The Applicant is a large corporation with substantial Parent Company financial backing. They have the funds to force an Appeal.

If an Appeal is successful it won’t be the Applicant or its employees that will have health and home affected by the decisions of others .

We will fight on.

VVASP is not against wind farms as a renewable energy source, we believe in the right renewable technology in the right environment. The Vale of Evesham is not the right environment for 410 feet/126m wind turbines.

NEWS RELEASE

Wychavon District Council has today published the planning report on the Lenchwick wind farm planning application.

The report will be considered at a special meeting of Wychavon District Council’s Development Control Committee on January 27. The report recommends members of the committee to refuse the application.

In summary, the reasons for the recommendation are:

• Landscape – the proposed wind turbines would lead to an unacceptable adverse impact on the character of the landscape and a visual intrusion
• Noise – the development would expose nearby residential properties like Manor Farm and Manor Farm Cottage to excessive and unreasonable levels of noise
• Residential amenity – the wind farm’s proximity to residential properties, including Badgers Sett, Manor Farm, Manor Farm Cottage and Garfield House, would create an overly imposing, dominating and oppressive visual effect
• Highways – the Highways Agency has concerns about the use of the M5 and the A46 to deliver the wind turbine components. Worcestershire County Council has also objected to the impact construction traffic would have on the maintenance of the existing highway.

The full planning report, including the full reasons for refusal, can be read at www.wychavon.gov.uk/planning.

The planning application, by ScottishPower Renewables, is for a wind farm on land east of Bishampton Bank.

The proposals include the erection of five 2.3 mega watt turbines measuring 126.5 metres to tip (80 metres to hub) and infrastructure including hardstandings, access tracks, compounds and a permanent meteorological mast.

ScottishPower Renewables is applying for permission to install and operate the wind farm for 25 years.

The Development Control Committee special meeting will be held on Thursday 27 January at 2.00pm in the Civic Centre at Pershore.

-Ends-

At VVASP, we have consistently held the view that that this is an inappropriate location for the construction and operation of an Industrial Wind Power Station.

And, once again, the VVASP campaign to highlight the potentially damaging  visual impact is clearly vindicated in this, the second damning report of ScottishPower Renewables plans, the Environmental Impact Assesment and their processes for analysing and predicting the potential visual impact from the turbines.

The consultant’s report highlights numerous inconsistencies within the documents and ScottishPower Renewable’s contemptuous, arrogant and lackadaisical approach to presentation of the information, including ignoring Wychavon’s own directions, in their own words:

On ignoring Wychavon’s instructions:

"…  It is noted that this is to be subject to a separate design process and environmental assessment despite the Council in its scoping opinion stating that the impact of the scheme as a whole should be assessed. ”

commenting on the Photomontages, they say:

“The size of the images and wireframes in the ES appear to have been chosen for ease of fitting on an A3 size of paper, rather than accurately portraying the image.”

They also point out that the proposal will have significant adverse impact on the area and indeed would breach a number of policies including ENV1, CTC1, and CTC2

“The windfarm would be out of scale with and unsympathetic to the local landscape, such that its character would not be safeguarded, restored or enhanced by the proposed development. The proposal is therefore inappropriate to and will not integrate with local landscape character and is thus, in our opinion, contrary to policy ENV1 of the Wychavon Local Plan and policy CTC1 of the Worcestershire Structure Plan."

and they highlight quite a few significant effects including:

“.. there will be significant effects of the proposed development on some views from and on the setting of the Registered Park and Garden at Rous Lench Court (Grade II*). In our opinion there could also be significant effects on views from and on the setting of Ragley Hall Registered Park and Garden (Grade II*).

As we have said all along, this is an inappropriate location

We strongly advise everyone to download and read this report in full.

To download it, Click Here

(Yes that’s correct, they’ve submitted a planning application, and don’t even now if they can get the bits there yet!)

If the ScottishPower Renewables plans for an Industrial Wind Power Plant are approved, then there could be up to 2500 trucks trundling through Norton and Harvington.

On top of that they have to get the massive Turbine towers  and 46.5m long (that’s the size of one half of a football pitch) turbine blades up to the site, and they have two options, their preferred route is via Norton and Harvington and this is what they would look like:

So to tell them what you think – turn out on Leys Road Harvington between 10:20 am and 11:30 am on Tuesday 17th August and JUST SAY NO to ScottishPower Renewables.

There plans including hauling: 2,500 Lorries (EACH WAY!), 40,000 Tonnes Aggregate, 5,000 Tonnes Concrete through Harvington, just ask yourself:

Where Will You Park?

How Safe will your  Children be?

How Noisy will it be?

What Damage will it do?

How Dirty will they be?

To date more than 700 individually written letters of objection have been sent to the council with over 95 % of them coming from local residents, yet less than 30 letters of support have been sent in, with a very significant proportion being from people that don’t live locally!

The Message to Wychavon Councillors and Planners is Clear!

This development is not wanted!

Apart from the arguments about ineffectiveness which are well proven (See The Wind Farm Scam (Independent Minds) by John Etherington), the massive destruction of the visual amenity value of the area, and clear breaches of Planning Policy, the Councillors and Planners have a clear mandate to refuse this planning application.

This mandate is also underwritten by the Government’s policy that planning applications of this nature should not be forced through against the wishes of the local community.

So, a big thank you to all of you that took the time and effort to put your own thoughts and feelings down on paper, you all made great points, and it all helps to get the message over to the planners and councillors.

Over 400 letters were delivered in just one batch and more than 300 others have been individually posted.

To be known as the  “Wind Turbines (Minimum Distances from Residential Premises) Act 2010”, it makes provision for a minimum distance between wind turbines and residential premises according to the size of the wind turbine; and for connected purposes.

In essence, it says that

No relevant authority may grant planning permission for the construction of a wind turbine generator unless it meets the minimum distance requirement.

unless

“The owners of ALL residential premises which fall within the minimum distance requirement for the proposed wind turbine generator MUST AGREE IN WRITING to the construction of the wind turbine generator.” Also small turbines under 25m to highest blade tip are exempt.

and it sets out those distances as:

If the height of the wind turbine generator is 
  (a) greater than 25m, but does not exceed 50m, the minimum distance requirement is 1000m;
  (b) greater than 50m, but does not exceed 100m, the minimum distance requirement is 1500m;
  (c) greater than 100m, but does not exceed 150m, the minimum distance requirement is 2000m;
  (d) greater than 150m, the minimum distance requirement is 3000m.

In essence this would put an immediate stop to the proposal of ScottishPower Renewables to construct 415 ft (40 storey high) alien structures in the Vale.

You can access the bill directly from the Government sited dedicated to this bill here: Click Here

Or download the bill from here: Right Click and ‘Save As’

“Confidence has been lost in the ETSU model”

4th June 2010
See original post here: http://www.cieh.org/ehn/ehn3.aspx?id=31194

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has commissioned fresh research on wind farm noise. The move, which has been welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) , comes despite ministerial assurances earlier this year that there were no plans to change the existing guidance on assessing and rating wind farm noise.

The guidance has become increasing controversial. Howard Price, CIEH principal policy officer, said: ‘The guidance currently in use, ETSU-R-97, is now more than 13 years old. It was developed before the current generation of large turbines began to be built and has had to modified unofficially in practice.’

Mr Price said that, despite its limitations, the guidance is referred to in the draft national policy statement for renewable energy, released last November. As an official consultee, the CIEH warned that future decisions based on ETSU would be unsafe.

Former energy minister, Lord Hunt, wrote last October in support of the use of ETSU-R-97 and junior minister David Kidney repeated in February that it gave ‘a reasonable degree of protection to wind farm neighbours’.

However, said Mr Price, it seems officials were already drafting specifications for new research. Two research tenders, one to analyse how noise impacts of wind farms are considered in planning and another to reassess the evidence base on reported noise complaints, were issued before the general election.

Mr Price added: ‘Confidence has been lost in the ETSU model and it is good that this has now been recognised. ‘Neither the government nor the energy providers could afford to risk planning consents being overturned because they were based on inadequate guidance. Hopefully, something everyone agrees on will emerge soon.’

There is a lot of information, you do not need to include all of it. 

They key thing is that there are only certain reasons that can be used for an objection to be valid so please read the model letter carefully.

Most important is to just put in a few comments about the topics that are of most concern to you.

It is important that you get your letter written before July 23rd and to us (or posted to Wychavon) by July 24th

Objections are valid for each and every house member over the age of 16.

So please remember to send a separate letter from each and everyone over 16. Each one counts separately. If you sign the letter jointly, it only counts as one.

Also remember to ask your family, friends and neighbours to do the same.

To ensure that letters are properly counted by Wychavon we have arranged for you to be able to drop the letters off locally and we will then take them to Wychavon and get a receipt for it.

‘Right Click’ and ‘Save As’ :  Objection Template Letter for the Planning Application

If you wish to object online, go here (Click on ‘Comment on Application’, then remember to select the ‘Object’ radio button)

http://bit.ly/ObjectToPlanningApplication

Our local letter drops are:

Driftway, Evesham Road, Church Lench (Through the door NOT the outside letter box) and

The Old Chapel, Atch Lench, WR11 4SW (in the box on the wall)

If you need your letter collected please let us know – call Rod on 07929 671019 or your village rep click here: Village Reps

Many thanks for your support.

Kind regards,

Rod Stroud and The VVASP team.

Below are extracts from his letter to a coalition MP’s

From: Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP

Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government

6 July 2010

Dear Colleague,

Abolition of Regional Planning

“I am today abolishing the bureaucracy of regional planning, revoking the red tape of Regional Strategies that envelop councils across England outside London.

John Prescott’s legacy of Regional Strategies added unnecessary bureaucracy to the planning system. They were a failure. They were expensive and time-consuming. They alienated people, pitting them against development instead of encouraging people to build in their local area.”

it goes on to say:

“Our new planning system will be clear, efficient and will put greater power in the hands of local people, rather than unelected regional bodies”

and furthermore:

“Moving forward, we will make it easier for local councils, working with their communities, to agree and amend local plans in a way that maximises the involvement of neighbourhoods.”

So what does this mean to you and me?

It means that if you are affected by a planning application your view counts more than someone who is not affected by it!

Published
6 July 2010

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles is today putting a swift end to Whitehall’s grip on local planning policy by scrapping Regional Strategies and their centrally imposed building targets that failed to increase housebuilding.

Regional targets intended to build 3 million homes nationally by 2020 were put in place by the previous Government despite fears that they would force councils to cut into the Greenbelt. However, the reality is that construction has slowed down so much the country is facing the lowest peacetime housebuilding rates since 1924.

An order laid in parliament today will revoke Regional Strategies with immediate effect. Councils will now have the freedom to prepare their local plans without having to follow top-down targets from regional quangos and bureaucrats that prescribe exactly what, where and when to build.

Mr Pickles also pledged that direct and substantial benefits for councils who support construction would be the centrepiece of this radical restoration of local power. The money will be used to help ensure more new homes are built for local people, and matched with more new jobs and investment.

From today, power will be handed back to councils and communities to make their own decisions on planning that can get the country building again. Communities will, once again, be able to solve local housing challenges in a way that makes sense for them. In return councils will be offered powerful new incentives that ensure they benefit from development they welcome.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said:

"Communities will no longer have to endure the previous government’s failed Soviet tractor style top-down planning targets – they were a terrible, expensive, time-consuming way to impose house building and worst of all threatened the destruction of the Green Belt.

"I promised to get rid of them and today I’m revoking regional plans with immediate effect – hammering another nail in the coffin of unwanted and an unaccountable regional bureaucracy. They were a national disaster that robbed local people of their democratic voice, alienating them and entrenching opposition against new development.

"Regional Strategies built nothing but resentment – we want to build houses. So instead we will introduce powerful new incentives for local people so they support the construction of new homes in the right places and receive direct rewards from the proceeds of growth to improve their local area."

Mr Pickles made the announcement in a keynote speech to the Local Government Association conference where he told Town Halls they were back in charge of local affairs.

Councils will now be free to protect Green Belt surrounding 30 towns across the country. The targets system forced them to redraw Green Belt boundaries and designate large areas of countryside for new development. Communities will now have the power to prevent encroachment on the Green Belt and decide themselves where they want to build.

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark said:

"Today is another significant step in the Coalition Government’s drive to transfer powers from remote bureaucracies to local communities. Regional edicts, which allowed communities no say, injected poison into the planning system which stymied development. By allowing communities to shape their neighbourhoods and to share in the benefits, we are beginning to restore the idea that development can be a force for good, rather than something to be resisted at all costs."

Notes to editors

1. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles confirmed today in a Written Parliamentary Statement that Regional Strategies will be revoked with immediate effect, as set out in the Coalition Agreement. In the longer term the legal basis for Regional Strategies will be abolished through the Localism Bill that will be introduced in the current Parliamentary session. A copy of the written statement can be found at: www.communities.gov.uk/statements/newsroom/regionalstrategies.

2. Regional Strategies have been revoked through Section 79 (6) of The 2009 Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act. Accompanying the Parliamentary Statement is guidance for Local Authorities that covers the period between the  revocation of Regional Strategies and legislation to abolish them altogether. A copy of the statement and guidance can be found at: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/letterregionalstrategies.

3. The abolition of regional strategies provides a clear signal of the importance attached to the development and application of local spatial plans, in the form of Local Development Framework Core Strategies and Development Plan Documents. Local plans drawn up with the help of the community will become the basis for local planning decisions, and future reform will make it easier for local councils to agree and amend local plans with their local community, in a way that maximises the involvement of neighbourhoods. The introduction of incentives to replace building targets will be a top priority for the new Government and take place early in the spending review.

4. Towns and areas that were planning to make Green Belt cuts and reviews because of Whitehall-imposed targets will now be able to make their own decisions where new development is built. They include: Bath, Bedworth, Bournemouth, Bristol, Bromsgrove, Broxbourne, Cheltenham, Chertsey, Coventry, Gloucester, Guildford, Harlow, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Leeds, Lichfield, Maidenhead, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Nottingham, Nuneaton, Oxford, Redditch, Redhill, Reigate, Rushcliffe, Stevenage, Solihull, Tunbridge Wells, Welwyn, and Woking and Worcester and in West Yorkshire beyond Leeds.