Giant Wind Turbine in Wanlip

[Zingari]

And only when it's windy. And what happens when the sea levels rise? They haven't thought this through!

i've never been to the east coast when it hasn't been windy , or "bracing" as they euphemistically call it

[Mack]

This is a very 21st century dilemma.

We all know we need alternative energy sources on a larger scale, and we are all pretty much for these new ideas unless they impact on our own lives.

Aslong as it shits on some else's doorstep rather than ours it's just fine.

I think what might help is if the likes of Severn Trent water, who are building this turbine, would pass on some of the benefit of the turbine being used to the consumer, rather than just widening their own profit margins.

[MikeyT]

Hey... Fuck you! I say make it act like one of those fancy dyson bladeless fans and get the air sucking through and onto those post Rothley bastards

I agree!

Altnough lets aim it towards Wymeswold instead and Wymsey Fox can have it!

[davieG]

This is a very 21st century dilemma.

We all know we need alternative energy sources on a larger scale, and we are all pretty much for these new ideas unless they impact on our own lives.

Aslong as it shits on some else's doorstep rather than ours it's just fine.

I think what might help is if the likes of Severn Trent water, who are building this turbine, would pass on some of the benefit of the turbine being used to the consumer, rather than just widening their own profit margins.

As you say purely for the benefit of ST if that was a motorway or something similar then there'd be the possibility of compensation. I'm still in two minds over this sort of thing and believe it needs a much more in depth thought out national strategy.

Merc

It will be the tallest structure in Leicestershire, towering over a picturesque pocket of the Charnwood Forest 436ft in the air, with three sweeping 170ft long steel blades, visible from more than 25 miles away.

This is the controversial Severn Trent wind turbine in Wanlip. Two feet taller than the London Eye (434ft), it will be the biggest wind turbine in the country, taller, in fact, than Leicester's blue building, St George's Tower, (just shy of 400ft), seven times higher than the Angel of the North (a piddling 66ft), nearly as big as Blackpool tower (518ft), and only 150ft shy of London's BT tower (580ft). You get the idea. It will be enormous.

It will become, inevitably, something of a tourist attraction in north Leicestershire, in fact, most of Leicestershire.

"You'll be able to see it from Bradgate Park," says Rothley Parish Council chairman Percy Hartshorn. "In fact, you'll be able to see it from more or less anywhere."

It will go up in 2012, says Severn Trent, on green land near the water firm's sewage plant, just off the A46. They don't know exactly when. Or, if they do, they're not saying.

How it came to this is some-thing of a tangled story of local democracy and how it works – or, some might say, how it doesn't.

Severn Trent applied for planning permission to erect the biggest wind turbine in the country more than 18 months ago.

Planning officers at Charnwood Borough Council were unimpressed.

It was too big, they said, and out of keeping with the surroundings. They recommended the plans were refused.

Councillor Diane Wise, councillor for Rothley and then-planning spokesman for the borough council, said the authority correctly followed every planning procedure.

"We consulted with local people, parish councils and county council.

"It became clear most people didn't want it."

The turbine might have been earmarked for Wanlip but the nearest houses were around half-a-mile away in Rothley.

Coun Hartshorn said: "We're not against renewable energy but we thought it was too big, a blot on the landscape."

What they couldn't understand, says Coun Hartshorn, was why they wanted to site the turbine in a valley.

"That's one of the reasons why it had to be so big," he says. "Surely, they wouldn't need one as big if they sited it on higher ground."

There was a deliberate reason for that, however, as Coun Hartshorn would discover.

Severn Trent held several meetings with residents to explain the proposal.

Phil Walling, a member of Wanlip Parish Meeting, thought the meetings were informative. Wanlip Parish Meeting took a different view to Rothley and made no recommendation at all.

"We knew there were people who didn't want it, but we knew, also, there were people who did want it, who want us to invest more in renewable energy," says Coun Walling. He was one of them.

"Personally, yes, I was in favour of it. I know it's a big turbine, but it's only one. Was I concerned about noise? No, not really. There's a lot of traffic noise in Wanlip, from the A6 and the A46. I can't see it will be louder than that."

There wasn't really a heated debate at the Charnwood Borough Council planning meeting.

"The officers recommended refusal, the councillors agreed and that was that," says Coun Wise.

The plans were thrown out. Relief was short-lived, however. Severn Trent appealed against the decision immediately.

The appeal hearing, at Loughborough Town Hall, was a confusing affair, says Coun Hartshorn.

"I wasn't surprised they appealed, but I thought we had a good case."

Principal planning officer at Charnwood Borough Council Neil Thompson was less confident.

He had been working on the appeal, solidly, for weeks.

"I knew they would appeal – they told us they were going to appeal before the council meeting – and I knew they felt they had a good case."

The appeal seemed to turn on one point, and one point only – an argument in favour of renewable energy.

"That seemed to outweigh and over-ride everything else," he says.

After a day-long session, the appeal was granted.

Severn Trent plans similar-sized turbines at 12 of its other sites across the Midlands.

The chances are it will get them and history will repeat itself. Local people will object, it will be refused by local planners, taken to appeal by Severn Trent and the appeal will find in their favour, because of the argument in favour of renewable energy.

The turbine will produce enough energy to power 1,857 homes. And yet it will power none of them.

The reason it's in a valley? It's near to the Wanlip Severn Trent sewage plant. The turbine will feed into that, reducing the fuel bill at Wanlip, not any fuel bills in Wanlip or Rothley.

Fred Barber is unhappy about that. Fred, 69, runs Woodcock farm, in nearby Cossington. He feels the people who objected were trampled underfoot.

"It all seemed pointless," he says. "They wanted it, and that was that.

"I feel angry about a lot of it – how the appeal was conducted, how much this all cost, how it will end up reducing their fuel bills, not ours – but there's nothing we can do now. I'm thinking about calling my farm Windmill Farm."

And the people who live nearby? Well, they'll have to accept it, shrugs Percy Hartshorn.

"There is nowhere to go from here, no other appeal. That's it.

"I expect they'll erect it and there'll be a lot of fuss, and that, eventually, we'll get used to it. I suppose it might become something of a tourist attraction.

"The Government made a big deal of their localism bill, that local people would have more of a say in decision that affected their towns and villages."

It doesn't seem like that to Percy Hartshorn. "It seems like a kick in the face to me," he says.

[gazfox9]

This thing is absolutely enormous! Must say, I'm not overly bothered by it, but its size is staggering.

[SystonFox]

People on here might not see it as a bad thing, but I feel for the people who's houses back on to it. It's an eyesore.

I can see it as I pull out my estate where I live in Rothley. Genuinely dont care it's there

This thing is absolutely enormous! Must say, I'm not overly bothered by it, but its size is staggering.

8m shorter than the London eye. Tallest on shore turbine in the uk too I think

[Zingari]

Severn Trent plans similar-sized turbines at 12 of its other sites across the Midlands.

The chances are it will get them and history will repeat itself. Local people will object, it will be refused by local planners, taken to appeal by Severn Trent and the appeal will find in their favour, because of the argument in favour of renewable energy.

 

 

in other words , don't bother protesting then !

[Asha]

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Giant-wind-turbine-Wanlip-expected-finished-today/story-20248083-detail/story.html

 

The turbine will be eight feet shorter than the London Eye (343ft) but taller than Leicester's St George's Tower, which is just short of 400ft.

 

Is it just me, or does that not make any sense?
 

[AoWW]

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Giant-wind-turbine-Wanlip-expected-finished-today/story-20248083-detail/story.html

 

Is it just me, or does that not make any sense?

 

 

It's not just you.

[ADK]

I'd rather have wind turbines than more houses or an incinerator.

[pSinatra]

I've not seen the turbine at Wanlip, but I see the ones they built a couple of years ago near Gilmorton & Dunton Bassett every day.

 

There's 4 of them & each turbine is over 400ft tall.  I think they look great & actually compliment the views across the countryside.........& they provide electricity for over 5000 homes,

 

I live about 3 miles away from them, so they don't directly effect me, but it seems they don't necessarily effect those living close to them either.

 

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/wrong-turbine-noise-admit-protesters/story-13713002-detail/story.html

 

Build more, I say.

[Jimothy]

I'd rather have wind turbines than more houses or an incinerator.

How are houses or a wind turbine comparable? I can see wind turbine or incinerator, the both produce power, but houses or wind turbine?

[Zingari]

Does anyone else find them very distracting when driving on the motorway ?

( i'm talking about those in south leics on the M1)

[davieG]

I wonder if in 50 to 100 years time ( speculatively ) when these things are redundant and being demolished if people will be regretting their demise and fighting for them to get heritage status like a windmill today might.

 

Not that I'll be around.

[ADK]

How are houses or a wind turbine comparable? I can see wind turbine or incinerator, the both produce power, but houses or wind turbine?

 

They both could be built on undeveloped land.

[Webbo]

Saw it this morning for the first time. I don't mind them from an aesthetic point of view, apparently they're not a very efficient way of generating electricity though.

[ADK]

They are cheaper than nuclear.

[SystonFox]

Hey... Fuck you! I say make it act like one of those fancy dyson bladeless fans and get the air sucking through and onto those post Rothley bastards

Haha look at what I said in June 2011. In march 2012 I moved to Rothley. Karma fo sho

[Guest MattP]

They are cheaper than nuclear.

 

I should hope so given they hardly work.

[absolutelegend]

Drove past it today - really don't like the things at all.  This ones so big it can be seen from miles away.  Totally dominates any landscape that had previously existed in the area and becomes the only feature of note in the area.

 

Put them out at sea, or if they have to be in land group hundreds of them together in the same place like they do in california.  Maybe even build them in cities?  Don't go dotting our countryside with the odd one here and there, especially as they are getting bigger and bigger.

[yorkie1999]

I think you need about 8500 turbines and an area of about the size of rutland to replace a nuclear power station! (assuming the wind's blowing)