Plans for wind park near Stinchcombe are submitted

8:20am Thursday 26th August 2010

By Claire Marshall

A GREEN energy supplier is calling on the ‘silent majority’ to back its plans for a wind park in the Berkeley Vale - but campaigners say 'no chance'.

Ecotricity has submitted a planning application for four 120 metre high wind turbines on farmland between the M5 and the A38, near Stinchcombe.

The green energy firm is encouraging people in favour of the plans to write to Stroud District Council’s planning department to support their bid, but campaign group Save Berkeley Vale has other ideas.

The group is confident that the majority of local residents will oppose the wind park and they are planning to campaign tirelessly to see the application rejected.

Jack Sant, a member of Save Berkeley Vale, said he knows only two households of the 160 in Stinchcombe that are in support of the wind turbines.

"Our group will be getting together to discuss what we will do next, but of course we will oppose it for the reasons we have stated before.

"These are the aesthetics of the turbines, the close proximity to houses and our overall concern that we are tackling renewable energy in the wrong way in this country."

Founder and managing director of Ecotricity Dale Vince said he was pleased to finally be submitting the application, which members of the public have 16 weeks to comment on.

"During the consultation phase we've listened carefully to the views of local people and as a result we've reduced our proposals from the original eight windmills to just four," said Mr Vince.

"By doing this we will ensure these windmills are good neighbours for people and wildlife - but at the same time this project will still make a vital contribution to the provision of clean energy in Stroud district. "The four windmills we propose will be able to power over 7,000 local homes each year.

"We hope that the council will recognise the real need to develop good sources of local clean energy and we hope that the planning committee in particular will be able to reflect that the vast majority of people in this district wish to see developments such as this - and that those people the committee does hear from on this will be a tiny but vocal minority."

"I think the tide has turned on wind power and people can see it for what it is."

The application can be viewed at www.stroud.gov.uk by clicking on planning applications.