Frodsham and Helsby campaign group set up to protest against Peel Energy wind turbine proposals

Dec 17 2009 by Barry Ellams, Chester Chronicle

PROTESTERS have launched a campaign against Peel Energy’s £50m wind farm proposal on Frodsham Marshes.

The group of six residents, backed by Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall, have set up a protest group – Residents Against the Wind Farm (RAW) – and have launched a website – www.rawindfarm.com

They are Frodsham residents Roger Young, Gordon Bell, Dr Kath Gee and town councillor Tony Hinkins, and Helsby residents Prof John Dearden and Roger Maher.

The group is chaired by Roger Young, a retired main board director of the Greenall Group, who aims to highlight the potential impact of Peel’s proposal for 21 wind turbines and ‘ensure the feelings and views of local people are heard’.

He said: “I imagine Peel are going to put in for planning. But, because of the size and scale of this wind farm, it will be heard and decided by central government and there’s a danger that local interests and understanding will not be considered in addition to all the technical planning stuff.”

“When I first heard about this proposal I was not against it. It was only when I saw the size of these massive 125m high turbines, the fact that they were going on this valuable bit of Green Belt land – a vital lung between big industrial complexes at Stanlow and Runcorn – and they would be so close to so many houses, that I realised how awful it was.

“I started reading up on it and also realised how inefficient wind farms really are.

“We are all in favour of renewable energy sources, but we are strongly opposed to this proposal. It would be less than 1km from houses and this site is also an important wetland area for many species of birds.

“The turbines would be noisy and flicker day and night, affecting local residents and drivers on the M56.

“This is clearly a lousy site for a big wind farm. We’ve got to ensure we ask all the right questions throughout the planning process.”

Mr Young is urging residents to visit the RAW website and sign the 10 Downing Street e-petition they will find there, urging the Prime Minister to bring English law in line with that in Scotland for a minimum distance of 2Km between wind farms and residential areas.

The UN climate change summit in Copenhagen is looking for renewable energy projects that don’t harm the environment and Peel Energy believes its proposal specifically addresses this.

Richard Dibley, development manager, told The Chronicle recently: “This is an important piece of infrastructure that will help tackle climate change.”