Tong, Bradford, decision could help anti-turbine objectors elsewhere

Controversial plans for a £2 million 400ft turbine at Princes Soft Drinks in Tong were refused by Bradford Council planners in May.

Last month the Telegraph & Argus reported how a Government planning inspector upheld the decision to refuse permission for what would have been one of the largest wind turbines in the country.

Now Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, the Council’s executive member for the environment, says the decision could help campaigners.

She said: “The decision has far-reaching implications for turbine-builders and has prompted a national debate between them, planners and environmental health officials.

“The planning inspector’s decision should aid local planning authorities to balance the need for more sustainable means of energy production with the concerns of local residents.”

Princes applied to place a 2.3 megawatt turbine at its Weaverthorpe Road site, which was designed to provide 20 per cent of the factory’s energy needs.

More than 1,800 people objected over the application amid concerns about noise, safety and the environment.

Planning inspector Elizabeth Ord agreed that the turbine would be overbearing and oppressive.

The investigating environmental health officer from the Council, Brian Fairclough, said the Princes turbine would cause a nuisance.

Princes had supported its application by a study from an acoustic consultant which predicted that noise would be below limits in criteria set by the country’s only recognised wind turbine noise guide.

But Mr Fairclough used World Health Organisation and British Standard guidelines as well as the same criteria as Princes.

Following his recommendation, the Council’s planning service refused permission for the turbine to be built. Princes appealed against the Council’s decision, arguing that the other noise prediction criteria used by Mr Fairclough was not relevant, but the planning inspector upheld the original decision.