A FRESH bid by developers to build a hydro-electric generation plant, along with fish pass, on the River Walkham at Huckworthy Mill near Sampford Spiney, is again being resisted by those campaigning against it.

The application is due to go before Dartmoor National Park Authority's development management committee on November 2.

In May DNPA rejected a similar planning application by CGP (South West) Ltd of Newton Abbot for the scheme, which the developers say will generate 110 megawatts of power, enough to provide electricity for 105 homes. The committee, in turning down the application, went against the advice of its planning officers.

In this resubmitted application CGP want to erect a single storey generator building 4.3 metres x 4.3m, made of stone with a slate roof, housing the turbine to generate electricity using a flow of water from the River Walkham on land owned by Lord Roborough's Maristow Estate.

Underground power cables would connect the generator building to the electricity grid.

The company also wants to restore and re-use the existing leat and built a fish pass, comprising three concrete pools, ranging from 3m x 2.7m to 3m x 2.8m.

CGP say the works will enhance the natural beauty of the river,secure the future of the weir and improve the passage of migrating fish to and from the Sampford Spiney site.

The new application has no objections from Devon County Council, West Devon Borough Council, South West Water and the Environment Agency.

However, the plan has attracted much opposition, particularly among those who live along the river bank.

While Burrator Parish Council support the application, neighbouring Plaisterdown Grouped Parish Council strongly objected, claiming it would have an environmental impact on the river, damage an historic site and be detrimental to the appearance of the environment.

Dartmoor National Park Authority has received more than 70 objections but just two letters of support said Pam Hayward, who owns the stretch of river beyond the weir and is one of those campaigning against the plan.

She said: 'We were most disappointed to learn that, rather than accepting the advice of the planning committee in May that they should design a more sensitive scheme, the developers have submitted an identical proposal to that which was so overwhelmingly rejected by both the National Park Authority and the local community.

'Our objections remain unchanged. the scale of water abstraction is too large —for significant periods of time a similar amount to that taken from the Tavy for Tavistock Canal at Abbey Weir will be diverted from the much smaller Walkham above Huckworthy.

'The monstrous concrete fish pass will devastate one of the most picturesque and beautiful parts of the Walkham Valley and bring about the total destruction of a historic boulder weir which has been judged to have significant value by a number of archaeologists and archaeological bodies.

'We are not opposed to hydropower, generally or at this site, but this particular proposal to exploit this location is too large and too insensitive — any benefit will be entirely outweighed by the damage it will cause.'