A WIND farm with three 80-metre high turbines could be sited on the edge of Dartmoor following the submission of a planning application this week. The application by Yelland Wind Farm Ltd is for three turbines on land at Yelland Farm to the west of the A386 on Bowerland Road, three miles south of Okehampton. The proposed site is close to Yes Tor ? the second highest point on Dartmoor. The application was submitted to West Devon Borough Council by Yelland Wind Farm Ltd, care of agent West Coast Energy Ltd. The proposed turbines would have a hub height of 50 metres and a total height of 81 metres and would together produce 3.9mw of energy. West Coast Energy planning director Steve Salt, acknowledged that the proposed site?s proximity to Dartmoor National Park was an issue. He said: ?We looked at all the technical and environmental factors and felt the Yelland Farm site was an appropriate site for a wind farm.? Mr Salt said from the surveys into the area?s topography the company had carried out, they believed the proposed wind farm would be visible from ?only a small percentage? of the area of the national park. ?What we are trying to do is help deliver the renewable energy targets which Devon has identified. ?By 2010, Devon County Council have agreed to deliver 151mw of renewable energy. The majority of that will have to come from onshore wind-farms. To get to those targets is going to be quite difficult.? West Coast Energy confirmed it was in the process of organising a public exhibition so local people could find out more about the proposal and have a chance to give their views. West Coast Energy has offices based in Flintshire and Edinburgh. In the nine years since it was established, the company has successfully managed the implementation of a number of wind farms across the country. The proposal for the site also comprises a generator sub-station, a temporary anemometry mast to measure wind speed, construction of access tracks and ancillary development, in addition to the three turbines. Noel Edmonds, chairman of the Renewable Energy Foundation, who lives at Jacobstowe, said wind farms and rural Devon were not compatible. ?Everyone in the county is going to find one of these infernal turbines on their doorstep very soon. They have to be resisted or we shall see the destruction of one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. ?For Okehampton and the surrounding area, which suffered so badly in terms of foot and mouth, and in some cases is still in the recovery process, this is catastrophic news,? he said. Mr Edmonds said he feared any development would damage tourism and the local economy as visitors would be deterred from coming to the area once it had been industrialised through the spread of wind turbines. ?I would call upon anyone with half a brain to oppose this application,? he said, ?The Dartmoor area and the Westcountry represents a totally inappropriate area for wind power development.? Mr Edmonds said the Renewable Energy Foundation would continue to fight for a change to the Government?s ?flawed energy policy?. It was currently mistakenly biased towards wind power, which did not produce a reliable energy supply, he said.
