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Langford wind farm plans become a reality
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a wind farm in Langford have been approved by the Planning Inspectorate.
Central Bedfordshire Council turned down the original application by the Co-operative Group for a 10-turbine facility on land north of Edworth Road.
But after leading an appeal hearing last November and December inspector Robin Brooks found in favour of the Co-operative Group yesterday (Thursday).
In his report outlining his reasons for approval Mr Brooks concludes that Langford life will not be unduly affected by the wind farm.
He said: “I have concluded ... that the proposal would not cause unacceptable harm to residents’ living conditions, to the character and appearance of the local landscape and heritage features or to enjoyment of the countryside.
“Any harm that would be caused ... would be outweighed by the benefits of the proposal.”
Councillor Tony Spencer, chairman of Langford Parish Council which opposed the application said: “I’m disgusted with the decision and so many people in this village will be so upset.”
Councillor Tony Fisher led the campaign against the proposals after the parish council voted to support Central Bedfordshire Council in its opposition.
He said: “I am extremely disappointed as I think most people in the village are.
“From the start of the campaign residents have attended the meetings and have supported us all the way.”
Councillor Ken Matthews, Central Beds Council’s executive member for strategic planning and economic development said: “The council is disappointed by the decision. However, the council acknowledges that a lengthy and thorough public inquiry was held to consider this appeal where all interested parties were able to state their case.”
A Central Beds Council spokesman confirmed that as yet no decision has been made on a potential appeal.
North East Beds MP Alistair Burt, who spoke against the wind farm at the inquiry, said: “The parish council and residents had a made a good case and I simply disagree with the inspectors’ findings that this will not damage the landscape or people’s quality of life.
He added: “We have to be very realistic of the position. It is a very serious decision taken and a difficult one to overturn.”
But Rob Ellis, sustainable development manager at The Co-operative Group believes the facility will be beneficial to the area as a whole.
He said: “We know that many people will be pleased with this decision.
“Some 88 per cent of residents say they would prefer to use renewable energy sources such as wind power and 89 per cent believe that Central Beds has a role to play in tackling climate change.
“We will continue to consult with residents throughout the construction and will work to establish a community trust fund to support environmental and energy efficiency schemes.”
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Weather for Biggleswade
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 12 comments to this article
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captaintefal
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 04:07 PMi feel sorry for eveyone in langford. my family and i are looking to move to the area around letchworth from london and langford was the nicest place we looked at buying in. we've now changed our minds about langford purely because of the damage the wind farm will do to property prices and interest in property. i checked with numerous estate agents in other areas with wind farms and across the board the showed a large decrease in prices and interest in those areas.
Sgreen93
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 11:04 AMOne other thing to note: did nobody on this review noticed what happened to certain turbines during the recent high winds? One caught fire and exploded and another fell over.. And they're building these well within a distance that could cause significant damage should either of those happen here. Our of interest, how will this benefit us? There will be no benefit at all - prices will be the same and there won't be any permanent jobs, so where's the benefit?!
Sgreen93
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 11:01 AMThis is terrible news. May I ask where Robin Brooks lives? I doubt he lives here - he therefore has no actual interest in Langford - why wouldn't he approve it. This is a decision that should've been made locally and hopefully Central Beds will see sense and start an appeal. As for Co-op's claim of 88% of "residents" supporting this - where are these people residents of? Nobody I've asked in Langford was asked about this, yet people in Biggleswade were.. Trotting out these lies in every comment shows the lack of care these people have. This entire project is a complete disgrace.
mf104
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 10:01 PMI obviously have to stand corrected by nwp1996. I have however looked on the internet for further definitions and found some more interesting facts 1) Sound experts Rick James and George Kamperman recommend a minimum 1 km (3,280 ft) distance in rural areas. James himself suggests that 2 km is better between turbines and homes, and Kamperman proposes 2-3 km as a minimum. German marketer Retexo-RISP also suggests that "buildings, particulary housing, should not be nearer than 2 km to the windfarm"; and that was written when turbines were half the size of today's models. 4) Jane and Julian Davis, whose home is 930 m (3,050 ft) from the Deeping St. Nicholas wind energy facility in England, were forced by the noise to rent another home in which to sleep. In July 2008 they were granted a 14% council tax reduction in recognition of their loss. It appears in this case that the combination of several turbines creates a manifold greater disturbance. Nothing in law certainly but a definite trend in recommendations. 2) Both the French Academy of Medicine and the U.K. Noise Association recommend a minimum of one mile (or 1.5 km, just under a mile) between giant wind turbines and homes. Trempealeau County in Wisconsin implemented such a setback. National Wind Watch likewise advocates a minimum one-mile setback. 3) Dr. Nina Pierpont, the preeminent expert on "wind turbine syndrome", recommends 1.25 miles (2 km). That is the minimum the Davises insist on as safe as well. In France, Marjolaine Villey-Migraine concluded that the minimum should be 5 km (3 miles). In June 2010, Ontario's environment ministry proposed requirements that offshore wind turbines be at least 5 km from the shoreline.
nwp1996
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 06:29 PMTo be honest, nearly every comment made about this article is either untrue or nonsense. To mf104: There is no legislation in Scotland requiring wind turbines to be 2km from residences. This is a myth pedalled by wind farm opponents and some people have started to believe it to their detriment becaise it makes their anti wind farm argumenst weak and not based on fact. There is guidance to be used by local councils when identifying areas where they would like to see large wind farms ( 20 plus turbines) built that those areas should be 2km away from settlements but that is quite a different thing than saying no turbines should be built within 2km of residences. The guidance is not meant to be and is not used for planning decisions in Scotland. It is only guiidance for local authorities when developing policies as to where to encourage large wind farms to be built. Secondly, perhaps the reason why the number of turbines was reduced when the devleoper admitted that there might be a noise problem was to remove that noise problem. It does not take a genius to work out that fewer turbines will be quieter. Thirdly wind turbines are not inefficent and do not have and efficiency factor of 27%. it is another myth and whoever said it could obvously not define eficiency . Wind farms are designed to have a capacity factor of around that number precisely because that is what makes them most efficient. The energy in the wind is captured by the rotor blades and converted into electricity by the geneerator. The capcity factor (say 27%) is the amount that the generator converts compared to what it would have converted if running at full capacity 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Machines are not designed to run at full capacity continuously. This does not make them inefficent as wind farm protestors claim. It would be easy to make a wind turbine with a capacity factor of 100%, all that would be needed would be a small generator behind a large blade...ths would be used 100% because it would not need a very strong wind to generate at full cacapcity...however, when the wind was strong the excess energy would be wasted because the teh generator would not be powerful enough to converrt it. The capacity factor would be 100% but it would be very inefficent because of all the wasted energy in the wind ( which is free btw) . So, before listening to people who say wind turbines are inefficent please ask yourself what efficency means and consider that they have been designed the way they have to capyure as much of the freely avaialble energy in the wind as possible at least cost. That should be the true measure of efficency...not some nimby capacity factor that opponents love to mislead people with.
mf104
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 12:45 PMDisappointed doesn't begin to reflect the opinion of those who have made it clear that we did not want a WInd Farm in Langford. The voice of the people of Langford seems to have been totally ignored. The Co-Operation acknowledged there would be noise problems when the reduced the original plan for 16 turbines down to 10. In the rest of Europe and Scotland there is a statutory requirement for a wind farm to be a minimum of 2km away from housing. The nearest of the Langford turbines will be 750m away from houses. Why is it that England has not brought in the same regulations? We have to rely on a Pivate Members Bill to have the action taken and that has, as yet, not made it's way even for discussion. It feels that the Co-op is pushing to get this site approved before any such legislation is made. Why Langford? What is unique about Langford for being chosen as the site to build the farm? The Co-op owns thousands of acres of land in the UK but needs to buy this particular strip of land to build their wind farm. Data presented at the enquiry shows these turbines work at 27% efficiency. If its too windy they have to shut down, if there's no wind they don't work. Solar panel farms are now becoming the favoured means of alternative energy in Europe. Why can't the Co-op use these to provide alternative energy - there would be significantly less impact on the village and certainly no noise issues. A recent report in The Sun featured a wind farm which had to close due to noise issues.
knowwho
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 09:06 AMAs a long time resident of Langford you have to question the motive of the people who are selling the land to the co-op. do they really have the communities interest at heart or are they really only worried about the MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Davies143
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 02:13 PMThis government, just like the last one, is forcing us down the wrong route for sourcing energy. They'll come to their senses at some point, realise that windfarms are totally inefficient and then we'll see a huge u-turn in their policy. Unfortunately it may be too late for Langford or other sites currently being pursued by desperate renewable energy companies with the approval of greedy farmers. The renewable energy companies are desperate to get as many sites approved as possible before they go bust or before the government realise the mistake they are making. The farmers who agree to have the turbines on their land are greedy, have no respect for their neighbours, their health or the likelihood that their property prices will plummet. Also, please don't be fooled by the 'community trust funds' offered by The Cooperative Group and their likes. See it for what it is.....a bribe.
peter wicks
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 02:06 PMOld Don No wind farms on our cabbage patch The Langford nimby’s cry out in woe They petition the council to make this so Then Don Quixote is raised from the dead To tilt at wind mills on his skinny old horse But tossed old Don when a carrot he’s fed Eating all the food in that cabbage patch Don Quixote’s horse became so very fat Standing there with lance and sword in hand Old Don was helpless to save Langford’s land So round and round the wind mills turn As the nimby’s retreat to hide their pride On the day Don Quixote once more died Peter Wicks Same result as when they tried to stop the scrap yard opening some years ago,,,said the lorries would block our roads...nothing of the kind ever happened...so the plan to have wind mills on Langfords back yard could put Langford on the map as a high technology village and a boost the local business with the influx of visitors who will gaze at the ten giant wind turbines...
MrLangford
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 01:02 PMI am very disappointed with this outcome; correct me if I am wrong, but 95% of the people of Biggleswade voted in favour of the Wind Farm, unfortunately 94% of them don’t live in Langford. What ever happened to “Our Big Society” where the community has more say in what goes on? Very short lived I’d say Dave! Mr Biggleswade…. The Water Tower is a great landmark for Langford, it has let you know that you are nearly home in the past, why on earth would you want to see these UGLY windmill monsters????
norfolkboy14
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 11:01 AMI am very sorry to hear this news. Who will be next? We need to get the Government onside, as well as local councils and others, if we are going to stop these wind turbines being built. Are you disillusioned by rising electricity prices, over dependence on the "green" dream [especially uneconomical and inefficient wind farms] and the destruction of our countryside then please register your objection to the Government on http:epetitions.direct.gov.ukpetitions22958 or by googling "petition 22958" and following the link. Please pass this message on to Councillors, members of your community and anyone else you know to persuade them to sign up too. If you are really concerned about wind turbines please write a letter promoting this petition to the Editor of this newspaper.
MrBiggleswade
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 10:18 AMI look forward to knowing I'm nearly home when I see the windmills.
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