PROTESTERS fighting the proposal to build nine wind turbines in the Den Brook Valley near North Tawton delivered more than 1,600 letters of objection to West Devon Borough Council last Friday. Maureen Thomson, of Den Brook Valley Action Group, handed the weighty box to a member of the planning department outside the council offices in Okehampton. She was joined by Jonathan Cardale, chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, who handed over a letter detailing the objections of 2,000-plus members, many of whom have also written individually to voice their opposition to the proposal by applicants Renewable Energy Systems to erect the 394-feet high turbines. The action group also delivered a detailed report setting out their case for refusal, said Maureen Thomson. ?These huge turbines would be amongst the biggest in Britain. They will destroy the beautiful landscape of this part of Devon and they break all the planning rules. ?They would dominate the views from Dartmoor and be visible from as far away as Exeter and Torrington. Mrs Thomson said they believed the borough council had received in excess of 2,500 letters of objection to the proposal, around double the amount received for an application to site a wind farm on land at Yelland Farm, near Okehampton which was refused planning permission by the council in May this year. ?We have consulted all around the local communities, and everywhere we found overwhelming opposition to this proposal. ?The strength of feeling against this is just massive, and growing all the time.? Mr Cardale, said: ?Dartmoor Preservation Association stands shoulder to shoulder with local protesters in this fight. ?If only one wind farm is allowed this close to Dartmoor, there will be scores more applications ? the subsidies are so over-generous. In ten years? time there will be a forest of these giant monsters encircling the moor.? Rachel Ruffle, of Renewable Energy Systems, said a ?healthy debate? was needed about the pros and cons of wind power in Devon. She said: ?An application has been submitted, along with detailed background information. The system is rolling and there are proper processes in place to allow people to make their views known ? either for or against ? to the local planning authority. ?Naturally, we are hopeful that the council will recognise the environmental benefits of this project and the support that exists amongst local people.? The Dartmoor Society has called for a public inquiry into the proposal. Chairman Tom Greeves said: ?The range of views of the Dartmoor Society committee is likely to reflect those of our 550-strong membership. Some are strongly in favour of these turbines, seeing them as icons for a cleaner self-reliant county, producing a minimum of 25% of West Devon?s energy needs, and perhaps significantly more. ?Others are strongly opposed, citing visual impact and the industrial nature of the development in a rural area, questioning the validity of the claimed energy production figures, and arguing that fossil-fuel or nuclear ?back-up? will be needed in times of calm weather.? He said the society believed the Dartmoor region could produce all the energy it needed from renewable sources, especially small-scale hydro schemes, which would have far less visual impact than wind farms.
