IMPORTANT MEETINGS IN MAY
Wednesday 23rd May 7:15pm at West Halton Village Hall
Tuesday 29th May 7:00pm at Burton upon Stather Village Hall
Wednesday 23rd May 7:15pm at West Halton Village Hall
Tuesday 29th May 7:00pm at Burton upon Stather Village Hall
WRG, the developer of the proposed Winterton Wind Farm and operator of the hazardous waste tip, have been asked by North Lincs Council to present their amended planning application to parish councils in the area. The date for their presentation to Winterton Town Council has yet to be agreed, however two other meetings have been confirmed.
They will be addressing Coleby and West Halton Parish Council on Wednesday 23rd May and Burton Parish Council on Tuesday 29th May.
These meetings with Parish Councils will be your only chance to engage with WRG as no other consultation events are planned.
The meeting at West Halton is also the Annual Meeting for Coleby and West Halton Parish Council. However, the meeting at Burton on Stather is dedicated to WRG's presentation.
Whichever meeting you can make, it is important to take this opportunity to express your concerns to the developer and the Parish Council concerned.
The meeting about the wind farm between residents and local MP Andrew Percy brought real results. Let's make sure these meetings do the same.
Please take this chance to make your voice heard.
Thanks again for your support.
Important meeting Saturday 14th April
There will be a public meeting with Andrew Percy MP this coming Saturday in order to give local residents the opportunity to express their concerns about the proposed Wind Farm at the Ironstone Quarry tip site.
The decision to remove the turbine nearest to Winterton, but leave the other three in the proposed development, has strengthened the feeling amongst Coleby residents that they are being ignored by the planners.
We also want to make clear that, in our view, the majority of Winterton residents are still opposed to a three-turbine development on this site. Let's not forget that the three remaining turbines are effectively 30m lower, bringing the noise generated by the blades and nacelles closer to Winterton homes.
Residents across the area are also asking what our MP's views are on the development now that the top turbine has been removed from the application.
The meeting will involve Andrew Percy and the ward councillors. Whilst the meeting needs to give the opportunity for Coleby and West Halton residents to express their views, we want as many people from Winterton to be there as well. We need to show that our position has not changed. We need to show that Coleby, West Halton and Winterton are in this together. We need to press for changes to the subsidy regime which lies behind the "gold rush" which threatens our residents, and our wildlife, and we need to press for more transparency and genuine local involvement in the planning system.
Our Ward councillors have been working hard on our behalf, but they did this for Burton residents yet were overruled by the planning inspector. To be sure of success we need changes at Westminster, so please take this chance to make you voice heard.
The meeting will be held at West Halton Village Hall on Saturday 14th April at 11:30am. We expect it to last no longer than 1 hour.
Please take this chance to make your voice heard.
Thanks again for your support.
Eight Steps To Make A Big Difference
As you will know, over 100 MPs recently co-signed a letter to David Cameron expressing their concern regarding the government's policies on on-shore wind farms. The letter was initiated by Chris Heaton Harris and co-signed by our local MP Andrew Percy.
In his most recent blog posting Chris Heaton Harris wrote: "I honestly believe that there is an opportunity that exists now - to amend our policy in this area - that simply didn't exist before 106 MPs wrote to the Prime Minister on this subject. The Prime Minister is very much in listening mode on this issue. So, if like me, you want to see a change in the Government's policy to onshore wind - now is most definitely the time to make your views known."
So let's make our views known. In other words please write your own individual letter to the Prime Minister NOW.
Writing a hard copy letter is by far the best option. However if you simply can't find the time then please take the following eight simple steps:
- Select and copy the suggested text (below).
- Go to the Number 10 Contact form at: https://email.number10.gov.uk/Contact.aspx.
- Select the 'Contact the Prime Ministers Office' option.
- Enter your postal address, your email address (twice) and a subject line and then paste the copied text into the 'Message' field.
- Add your name and tailor the message to suit your taste and views. You have an additional 85 characters that you can add if you wish.
- Click the 'Send' button.
- THEN watch your email Inbox (and any SPAM folders) for an immediate email to you from Number 10 containing a link. You will then need to click on this link to ensure that your email is safely delivered.
- Send this list of instructions to like-minded friends and family and ask them to take the same EIGHT STEPS TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
LONDON, SW1A 2AA
Dear Mr Cameron
On 30th January 2012 over 100 MPs wrote to you to express their concern about the Government's policy of support for on-shore wind energy production. They asked the Government to dramatically cut the subsidy for on-shore wind and to spread the savings made between other types of reliable renewable energy production and energy efficiency measures. They also set out some subtle amendments to the new National Planning Policy Framework that they felt would help to rebalance the planning system. Finally, the MPs' letter urged you to ensure that Planning Inspectors respect the views of local people and that long-established planning requirements are always taken into account. I fully agree with the strongly expressed views set out in that letter and urge you to act on those recommendations.
Yours sincerely etc.
As the planning application makes its way through the planning process, WAIT continue to monitor its progress. We are also preparing for the longer term as we expect many battles to be fought over the next few years.
Keep up to date with the latest news by joining our mailing list and keep an eye out for our fundraising events which will start in the New Year. We expect to be adding a donations button to the website fairly soon, to enable donations to be made online. Keep watching this space!
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust have reviewed the additional information submitted by WRG and have decided to maintain their holding objection to the proposed development. Unfortunately, Natural England do not agree and they have now withdrawn their objection.
Robin Hood Airport have also lodged an objection based on the impact the development will have on the airport's radar. WAIT have reviewed the additional information submitted by WRG in response to the objections and questions raised by Natural England and North Lincs Council regarding the proposed Winterton Wind Farm.
We consider that this additional information leaves many questions unanswered. In particular we remain convinced that the nature surveys are inadequate, and do not accurately reflect the likely damage that the proposed development will do to wildlife in this area.
We are submitting the results of our review to North Lincolnshire Council and restate our case that this development cannot be justified on a site so close to residential properties and the Humber estuary.
Everyone who sent in an objection to North Lincs Council should have been contacted by the council inviting further comment. Please note that the development has not been changed in any way, it is still for four turbines in the same locations. The amendment to the application is simply to add further information to try to overcome the outstanding objections.
Please note that all the objections already sent to the council are still valid and you do not need to write again unless you have specific points to raise regarding this additional information. If you do write again please send us a copy of your submission.
If you wish to review this new information for yourself, the new documents are available but are difficult to find among the original planning application documents.
These are the files of interest (please click to download or view):
Supporting Docs Further Information with Regard to Ornithology
Supporting Docs Additional Info & Clarification of Noise Chapter
Supporting Docs Further Archaeological Information
Supporting Docs Details of Temporary Access Road Solution
Drawing Distribution of Cropping on Adjoining Fields
If you review these documents and have comments to make please contact one of the WAIT team or email your comments to info@wintertonagainstinappropriateturbines.org.uk.
Thank you.
Winterton Town Council voted unanimously to oppose the planning application at the Extraordinary Meeting of the Town Council held on Monday 6th June.
This is an important step in the right direction, but letters of objection from concerned residents are still crucial - each person in a household can (and should!) write a separate letter.
Please note that although the official deadline has passed, letters of objection delivered to Pittwood House before 22nd July 2011 will still be counted by the planning officer. You can also still contact WAIT and we will hand-deliver your letter if required.
If you intend to write a letter of objection and require assistance, please click here for a sample layout and here to view WRG's Planning Application.
Please note that W.A.I.T. are not a political organisation nor are we affiliated with any political party.
Please click the thumbnail below and take fifteen minutes to view the video below, it highlights, among other things, the misinformation supplied by energy companies in their efforts to railroad local communities into accepting wind farm developments close to domestic properties. Among others, the video covers the proposed developments in the Laughton, Northorpe and Scotton area and gives an idea of what is in store for Winterton.
Please watch the video below and make up your own mind.
Click the image in the header to see the real size of the turbines that WRG would like to build - considerably larger than the ones they displayed in their mocked up photos at the public exhibitions at West Halton and Winterton.
Should the proposed Iron Stone Quarry Wind Energy Development at Winterton go ahead then, according to a report commissioned by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, over 60% of dwellings in Winterton (those within a mile of the any turbine) would suffer a drastic reduction in the value of their properties (please click here to view the report). More important still are the potential effects on the health of Winterton residents and the changes in lifestyle you may be forced to make as a result of the noise and visual impact of the turbines. Winterton Against Inappropriate Turbines (W.A.I.T.) are a group who have formed to counter the threat of wind turbines being placed within one kilometer of our community. We are NOT against wind turbines nor other, more efficient, methods of producing renewable energy, we simply do not believe that a community should be exposed to the visual, audio, health and other risks from turbines being so close to domestic properties for the sake of further increasing the profit of companies already subsidised by the tax-payer.
Please visit our site regularly as we will endeavour to provide more information about wind turbines and in particular the proposed Iron Stone Quarry Wind Energy Development at Winterton.
