Stoke park Residents celebrate Wind turbine decision!

Success on Wind turbine campaign

I am thrilled to announce that PfR have dropped their plans for the windfarm that was proposed on IBC land at Thorington, following an effective local campaign.

This is a summary of what they said

'Both the technical assessment PfR has undertaken and the local feedback has been invaluable in helping us hone our proposal and we are confident that this single turbine project is now the optimal design for the locality.

The project will no longer include the previously proposed turbine on Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) owned land east of Belstead and south of Pinewood. There are no plans to re-consider this in the future and the agreement with IBC will fall away at the end of the year.'

Well done to Jenny from Stop Ipswich Turbines who I have given my full support to from day one of the campaign. 

I was the only S.W. Ipswich councillor to publicly state that I was totally against the proposal being so close to homes. 

Well done to the residents who filled in and returned the survey from myself and Ben Gummer MP, proving the strength of feeling of the local people. Our first survey showed nearly a 100% of residents were against with a handful for. 

This is what a councillor should do - represent their community irrespective of their own feelings. My own is that they look beautiful and graceful in the sea or at least a few miles from people's homes and so I was more than happy to work on Stoke Park's behalf.

And well done to PfR in coming to the right decision. I have found them to be most helpful in answering my questions and it's been tough for some of their representatives when dealing with us at public meetings.

Of course there is still one turbine left which will be much further away from my ward and Babergh district but that is for other residents to deal with. I can only look after the residents who voted for me. 

However if those residents are not happy, I urge them to attend the meeting with Mr Yeo that was set up by SIT and to feel motivated by the success of the campaign so far.

I celebrated last night and hope that my residents will do the same tonight. They deserve it!

Latest from SIT on Windfarms and court actions

I have been collating the latest completed surveys from residents and in fact will be delivering further survey forms this week in the final areas of Stoke Park.

In the meantime Stop Ipswich Turbines latest e-mail is full of good news and gives me renewed hope that we are spending good time in fighting the Thorington proposal

Thanks to jenny, I quote here

I'm sure you saw or heard something of the news about the National Trust winning their case about wind turbines close to Lyveden New Bield. In case you didn't catch it all, here's a clip from the ITV news

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/story/2013-03-08/high-court-windfarm-ruling/ and a piece in the Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9918022/Conservationists-win-landmark-High-Court-victory-against-wind-farm.html

Although it is not comparable to our situation, it is an implicit acknowledgement that there needs to be some restraint and consideration given to each local situation. The more important case for people like us is the Milton Keynes Council action, about setback distances and the right of a council to determine them. That still awaits a decision.

Here's a story that was carried in the EADT and the BBC about the transport issues at the construction phase. We have been told very little about this by PfR, except the route. I hope to have some more news on that soon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-21711938Daily Mail Thursday 7th March - page 13. Incidentally this is a smaller turbine than those under consideration here.

Finally, to give us all a little encouragement, there are people in high places who share our point of view about appropriate siting of wind energy projects.

Cross-border turbine fight: Tories unite to fight windfarms

Thorington Windfarm Survey 2

The following is the latest survey for residents in Stoke Park from Ben Gummer MP and myself.

After the last survey which showed a resounding 92% against the windfarm on Thorington, Ipswich, and the campaign by SIT (Stop Ipswich Turnbines), PfR responded by consulting with the public again showing new positions of the turbines.

Only one turbine will be on Ipswich land now and it is slightly further away from Stoke Park residents with the second turbine to be situated on Aldous land and now on the other side of the railway line about 400 mtrs further away from Ipswich.

What we do not want, is the survey results to become a moot point because of the new position so we feel that residents need to give their opinion once more.

Please do not think that because you responded last time, we do not need your input now - because we do. We need an up to date consultation response from the residents of Ipswich.

Feel free to print out the survey and respond. Do not worry about 6/3 deadline - we can hold off for a week or so until I have collated them all.

Join the debate on Windfarms

I bring you another subject that's very much part of my ward in Stoke Park. In fact, I have to declare an interest here, as this is going to affect my street, being on the very edge of the boundary of Ipswich, overlooking the site where 2 x 130 mtr turbiness are proposed.

The land (Thorington) belongs to Ipswich Borough Council but it is sited in the Babergh district, which is the planning authority involved.

The photo has been taken from my street and shows what it will look like, calculated by Peter Evans who has instigated the Stop Ipswich Turbines campaign.

I think it is important that all sides are listened to and understood and then people can make their own minds up. To this end, I have organised and posted leaflets, with my colleague Bob Hall, and this has resulted in some dialogue and sign ups for further information, details below.

I happen to think wind turbines are rather graceful & beautiful but this opinion is not shared by everyone and, even if it was, it is only one of the many concerns that residents and SIT are campaigning on.

Kessingland Wind Turbines

There are residents in Kessingland who have first hand knowledge of living with turbines and tell their own story. They attended a meeting with SIT campaigners and are struggling to resume a quality of life that they had before the turbines were built. Please look at their website but I quote a paragraph which gives a flavour of the problems they are enduring and are fighting against (directly from their website www.turnthemoff.co.uk)

'Noise and the effect on health.

The issue of noise produced by wind turbines is controversial as there are widely conflicting views. An apparent shortage of scientific research and planning regulations are based on outdated data significantly contributes to the problem.

Wind turbines produce three types of sound - (a) mechanical noise from the gearbox and generators, (b) aerodynamic noise from the movement of the blades through the air and (c) low frequency infra sound. Research has shown that low frequency sound can cause serious health problems for people sensitive to its effects. People living near wind turbines have reported experiencing health problems including sleep difficulties, headaches, irritability and stress. Wind turbines now dominate the landscape for miles around and can impact on the quality of life of thousands living in the area. Some residents are, however, not affected by them. Even if they live next door to a resident who is.
This is not a NIMBY issue.

This website has been created to inform people about the adverse affects the two turbines are having on their quality of life. Either through health issues, noise, flickering, vibration, amplitude modulation- AM, devaluation of properties, effects on wildlife, the holiday businesses and the damage to the natural beauty in the surrounding area.

Two public meetings have already taken place with W.D.C (Waveney District Council), the developers and our MP Peter Aldous, another is planned in June.
At the last public meeting over 100 residents attended, all bringing their private issues, concerns and worries. Many raised issues of noise, the resultant sleepless nights and having to leave their own homes to get some peace. Others related to their quality of life having been adversely affected. Some had moved bedrooms to get a good nights sleep, others were unable to relax in their own gardens due to the noise from the turbines.

We must fight to get our former quality of lives back. Together, we can win this fight through the 'Power of the People'.
Please add your issues to this Website and be sure to ring Waveney District Council asking for the Environment Department. They will log and record your complaint of noise and disturbances. The more complaints recorded on noise issues, the more power they will have to argue to act.
Please support our Campaign'   end quote.

This is not a question of Nimby. the campaign in question is stating that it should not be in anyone's back yard (the nearest house to the proposed site, for the 2 turbines, is only 600 yards.) There are many more houses that will be affected by potential noise,visual impact, flicker etc in Pinewood, Thorington Park, Belstead village, Stoke Park and Sprites wards.

You can read more at www.stopipswichturbines.com


Now onto the developers, Partnership for Renewals. They have a website for Thorington Park here
http://pfr.co.uk/thoringtonbarn

They say that the turbines on this planned site will be different from the Kessingland site. I am looking forward to hearing their explanation of this at one of the consultation meetings. They have promised to attend to talk to local residents at a public meeting.

I quote Benefits from their website;

Green electricity

If two 2.5MW turbines are installed, they will generate approximately 11 GWh of green electricity on an annual basis. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used annually by approximately 2,400 households.

CO2 savings

A wind energy development of this scale is expected to avoid approximately 4,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Please note: The environmental benefit figures are based on two 2.5 megawatt turbines, operating with a 25% capacity factor; average household electricity use of 4602kWh per annum; and the electricity generated displacing electricity generated from CCGT / average fuel mix - approx. 430gCO2/kWh.

Additional income

In addition to Ipswich Council making a positive contribution towards the fight against climate change, Partnerships for Renewables will pay rent for the site, bringing in additional income.

Community benefit fund

A market-leading community benefit package will be provided alongside any future development. This will consist of a community fund, which will receive an annual payment at the rate of £2,500 per installed megawatt.

If three 2.5MW turbines are constructed, the fund would receive £18,750 on an annual basis for the operational life of the project (20-25 years).

The fund will be administered by representatives of the local community, to be spent on local projects.

A separate community benefit fund consultation will take place later on in the development process

This article is for info and to point you in the right direction, should you want to know more or attend any of the meetings.

From SIT - The next meeting will be held at Pinewood Community Hall on September 30th 2012 time tbc