Wind Energy Planning

Planning consent was granted today for an Essex Wind farm in the east of England after two public inquiries and a high court challenge.

The 10 turbine wind farm planned near the village of Bradwell in Essex, is close to the site of a 1960’s Magnox nuclear power station. The wind farm consent follows a decision to quash the proposal in 2008 due to a typo in the original planning consent. This typo would have potentially lead to unenforceable planning conditions relating to the noise output of the wind farm.

In re-granting consent for the wind turbines, Planning Inspector Mr Mellor said: “The Bradwell wind farm would contribute to the large number of wind turbines likely to be needed to meet renewable energy targets. It is immaterial that a new nuclear power station is likely to be developed nearby or that the wind farm would generate much less energy than that power station.”

Mellor claimed that both the wind farm and the nuclear power station would contribute to non-carbon energy production and that both are likely to be needed to meet national targets for energy production and to replace lost energy production capacity elsewhere.

The inspector confirmed that there would be some harm to the public interest locally, particularly in respect of a change in landscape character and visual impact for many and an adverse impact on some aspects of the setting of a nearby grade 1 listed chapel. He concluded however that this harm would be mainly local in its impact and the environmental benefits would be much wider.

According to Mellor, if we are to achieve the goal of substantially reducing carbon emissions whilst maintaining energy supplies, renewable energy will need to be supplied from many sources including onshore and offshore wind turbines. He noted that any local impacts would be outweighed by the environmental benefits which include reducing climate change impacts on the conservation of landscape, cultural heritage and natural habitats.