VIEWS?are being sought on a wind turbine plan near Lamerton, which would be the closest turbine yet to Tavistock, ahead of a formal planning application being put together. West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox said the structure would be 'gigantic' in the middle of some of the most beautiful landscape in the borough. The proposal is for the installation of a 500kw wind turbine, with a hub height of 50m and a maximum blade tip height of 74m at New Venn Farm, east of Lamerton and north-west of Tavistock. Applicant Mosscliff Environmental is requesting members of the community to give feedback to the proposals to help form the application. In information given to nearby residents of the proposed site Mosscliff Environmental said: 'New Venn Farm benefits from an excellent wind resource. This, coupled with the surrounding topography and other site features, makes the location an ideal spot for a turbine. 'Before a formal planning application is submitted to West Devon Borough Council we would like to hear what local people think about the proposal. 'Whilst the feedback so far has been positive, we are working to enable a wider consultation with those living and working in the vicinity of the project. 'We welcome any comments and can assure people we will work to address any concerns that may arise regarding this scheme and provide additional information and studies as appropriate in an effort to allay any concerns there may be. 'Rest assured that the planning officers will consider all aspects of the scheme and implement a raft of requirements on the project to ensure that there will be no noise nuisance or undue negative impact on the local area.' The turbine proposed would produce almost 1,205MWh of green electricity per year which will be fed directly into the local grid, which Mosscliff Environmental said was equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of almost 370 average homes each year. The company said by installing the turbine, it would prevent the injection of around 685 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent into the UK's atmosphere every year. A spokesperson for Transition Tavistock, the co-ordinating partner in the South West Devon Community Energy Partnership, which brings together community energy groups and the local authorities in West Devon, South Hams and the Dartmoor National Park Authority, said: 'Local generation is beneficial for the local economy, by ensuring that money is locally retained and helps increase local expenditure and has a positive impact on jobs and skills. 'Community-owned and financed installations can be particularly beneficial, as evidenced by the 225kw turbine recently installed in South Brent. 'The turbine has been financed locally and returns, after interest to local investors, will be ploughed back into local community projects.' MP for West Devon and Torridge Geoffrey Cox, who has been involved in a long-running campaign both at Westminster and locally against the 'proliferation' of wind turbines in his constituency, voiced his objections to the turbine. He said: 'The proposal for a gigantic 250ft wind turbine in the middle of some of the most beautiful landscape in West Devon, which would be sandwiched between and just short distances from the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Cornwall and West Devon World Heritage Site and the Dartmoor National Park and would dominate the lovely village of Lamerton, has aroused the opposition of the overwhelming majority of local people. 'It would be wholly out of place in so sensitive and historic a landscape and I hope that the developers will have the good sense to withdraw their application. 'As a resident of the parish, I shall certainly be objecting to it and, in the event that it is refused by the West Devon planning authority but then goes to appeal, I shall seek to persuade the Secretary of State personally to recover the decision from the planning inspectorate, as I am doing in other cases in the constituency.' Mosscliff Environ-mental is now seeking public views and comments to be submitted before a planning application is produced. Details of the proposal can be found at http://www.mosscliff.co.uk/south-west-application-2.html">www.mosscliff.co.uk/south-west-application-2.html Feedback must be received by May 22.