DEVELOPERS hoping to open new commercial wind farms in West Devon will have to do without the support of their local MP.

Geoffrey Cox, MP for West Devon and Torridge, has declared his opposition to any more wind farms, saying that the speed of unspoilt rural landscape being turned into a renewable energy landscape was 'frightening'.

His comments came in light of figures from the Campaign to Protect Rural England that showed in Torridge alone there were 43 approved single turbines, 20 schemes under consideration by the local planning authority and many more expected.

Those opposing wind farms either on grounds of their visual impact, noise or efficiency say more and more local authorities are becoming more reluctant to oppose such applications as many previous cases have been lost on appeal, at great expense to the taxpayer.

Mr Cox said: 'Developers have deep pockets with expensive city lawyers to oppose small, borough councils such as West Devon.

'Local authorities have to find proper and very good grounds for refusal for a successful appeal and it can be a costly business so it is understandable that they are sometimes reluctant to appeal — which, of course, the developers count on.'

Mr Cox is currently opposing plans by energy company EDF to erect six turbines at Hollow Panson Farm at St Giles on the Heath, whose two megawatt turbines would power 6,200 homes and save 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Mr Cox told the Times: 'I think we have reached a tipping point with wind farms. There are 60 application for wind farms planned in Torridge alone, all over 70 metres and the largest, 400ft, which is taller than St Paul's Cathedral.

'If we don't do something now we are going to wake up one day to face the fact that there will not be a large part of Torridge where you cannot see a huge turbine in front of you.

'We depend on our landscape to attract visitors here and our rural economy will be damaged if this proliferation of turbines gets out of hand.

'I'm not against green energy but I am against gigantic, commercial, on-shore windturbines that are apparently becoming out of control in Torridge and West Devon.'

The MP denied he was against wind farms per se and that he had no problem with small turbines being erected in the right location which would not ruin the beauty of the natural landscape.

'We have already reached saturation point and don't need anymore wind farms in West Devon and Torridge.'

Mr Cox hopes to meet John Hayes, the Minister for Energy, to discuss the issue of wind farms.

Martin Quinn from Tavistock, a spokesperson for the Green Party in West Devon, said he was not surprised by Mr Cox's comments as the MP had stated his opposition for years to this form of green energy.

Mr?Quinn said:?'Onshore windfarms are one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy.

'Of course, we wouldn't expect them to be put in local beauty spots, such as on Dartmoor, but in the standard rural parts of the West Devon countryside I think they would be absolutely appropriate.

'One of the measures the Government spoke about concerning the Budget last week was subsidies for communities to encourage them to allow shale gas energy production. If the Government is prepared to give it to shale then why not for wind farms?'

He added that there was a huge lobby in opposition to wind farms.

It was a fallacy, said Mr Quinn, that wind farm developers were all multi-national companies with resources to match — many were from individuals who only wanted one or two turbines.