Update on Bicton and Common Barn windfarms

THE public inquiry into the proposed wind farm at Bicton concluded on Monday (January 23).

In January last year Huntingdonshire District Council unanimously rejected proposals by Broadview Energy to build four 125m wind-turbines on the site which lies 2km from the village of Kimbolton.

The council stated that the proposal contravened local and national planning policy because of the impact it would have on the visual landscape and rich, cultural heritage of the area.

Broadview Energy immediately appealed the decision and a public inquiry was launched in August 2010.

Action group Stop Bicton Wind Farm (SBWF) was formed in 2009 by local residents and granted formal representation at the inquiry which sat for 14 days over a six-month period.

Chairman of SBWF, Martin Patterson, told The Hunts Post: “The ruling in this case will be significant not just to the villages surrounding the Bicton site but to the whole district of Huntingdonshire.

“If the developer’s appeal is upheld, HDC’s planning guidelines for wind farms will be shown to be worthless and it will be a free-for-all for developers.”

Barristers for all parties will now present their closing statements in writing to HDC’s planning department by the end of the month, and a judgement will be delivered by the Planning Inspectorate later this year.

THE Stop Common Barn Windfarm action group is holding an exhibition in Southoe Village Hall this weekend in protest at plans to erect three 130m turbines and a 70-metre-high wind monitoring mast by developers TCI Renewables.

The proposed windfarm would be located less than one mile from Southoe High Street, and less then two miles from the villages of Stirtloe, Buckden, Little Paxton, Great Staughton and Hail Weston.

Exhibition organisers hope to inform residents on the impact of the development.

INFORMATION: The exhibition takes place at Southoe Village Hall on Friday, January 27 from 5pm and on Saturday, January 28 from 10am