COUNTRYSIDE ORGANISATIONS VOW TO CONTINUE FIGHT AGAINST GIANT TURBINE

12 July 2007

Leading countryside organisations have today (Thursday) vowed to continue their campaign to protect the South Downs from a giant wind turbine on Mill Plain, above Glyndebourne. This promise follows the news that Lewes District Council wants to grant permission for an industrial scale wind turbine at Glyndebourne Opera House in the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Roy Haycock, Chairman of CPRE Sussex said: ‘We are deeply disturbed to hear that the Council wishes to grant permission against its own planning officer’s recommendations. This turbine has huge opposition both nationally and locally.’

The Campaign to Protect Rural England [1], the Council for National Parks [2] the Ramblers’ Association [3], the South Downs Society [4] and the Open Spaces Society [5] have staunchly opposed the proposal because they believe that the 230-foot turbine will destroy the views of the precious landscape in the eastern part of the South Downs. The turbine would also be within the designated South Downs National Park [6].

Lewes District Councillors voted 6:4 against the advice of their own Planning Officer. The officer’s recommendation was that the application should be refused due to the significant harm which would be caused by the giant turbine to the natural beauty, character and tranquillity of the landscape [7].

The wind turbine proposal is in direct conflict with national, regional and local planning policies and is opposed by Natural England as well as locally by village residents [8].

Jacquetta Fewster, Director of the South Downs Society, said: ‘All the countryside protection organisations are in favour of appropriate renewable energy but argue that great thought must be given to the type and size of renewable energy developed, particularly in special landscapes such as AONBs and National Parks [9].’

The Government has ordered the Council not to grant permission until it has scrutinised the application to assess whether a public inquiry should take place [10].

Ruth Chambers, Head of Policy at the Council for National Parks, said: ‘We are calling for a public inquiry into this proposed development. It is madness to build such a huge structure on such a sensitive and prominent part of the South Downs.’

Jacquetta Fewster concluded: ‘We are determined to protect the South Downs from unsuitable development, and we will fight this proposal at inquiry if needs be.’

---

Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.