Objections to wind turbine set to fail

Neighbours and the parish council opposed the plans for a single 15m high turbine on green belt land off Station Lane.

The turbine is intended to provide electricity to Manor Farm, with any excess being fed into the national grid.

Residents said it would spoil the views of the open countryside and would cause noise and a shadow flickering effect.

They also claimed the turbine would have an adverse impact on the setting of listed buildings.

But the chief planning officer with Leeds City Council, Phil Crabtree, is recommending that the plans be approved.

In a report to be heard by members of the Plans Panel East on Thursday, he says the site is “reasonably well screened” from the village which would limit its visual impact.

His report adds: “Given the small scale of the proposal and its proximity to neighbouring dwellings, and the fact that it is located to north and north west of the dwellings in the village, it is considered highly unlikely that noise and shadow flicker will be sufficient to significantly impact on residential amenity.”

The report says that the applicant had argued that the development was appropriate in the green belt because of the wider environmental benefits of renewable energy creation.

Mr Crabtree’s report says the “very special circumstances submitted by the applicants are considered to clearly outweigh the harm that the proposal would cause to the green belt, by reason of inappropriateness.”

His report suggests a condition be imposed requiring the removal of the turbine and the restoration of the site once it has come to the end of its working life.

Residents’ claims that the turbine would have an impact on the setting of historic buildings were rejected in the report.