OUTRAGED campaigners are preparing to fight tooth and nail to stop giant wind turbines being built on Frodsham Marshes.

Despite years of campaigning by residents living across Frodsham, Helsby, Elton, Dunham-on-the-Hill, Kingsley and Alvanley the Secretary of State gave Peel Energy the green light for a 19 turbine wind farm on Friday (October 19).

Now concerned residents living in the shadow of the 80m turbines are hitting back over fears the wind farm will cast a “shadow as high as Frodsham Hill” over thousands of homes, destroy views, reduce house values and induce splitting migraines.

Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) are currently in talks with lawyers to fight the Government decision, believing the concerns and overwhelming sentiments of the local communities were “ignored” in favour of hitting a “quota for renewable energy”.

CWaC Cllr for Frodsham and former town mayor Andrew Dawson said the overwhelming feeling by residents was “beyond disappointment” and that the community needed to fight to stop being the “energy dumping ground” for the North West.

“You have to understand the nonsense in the planning decision suggests there is strong support for the wind farm locally,” said Cllr Dawson, who said the council were currently looking into challenging the decision at a judicial review.

“There is far greater opposition to the turbines than support. The vast majority of people are opposed to this. I think it is disgusting to make such a statement when the vast majority of people who will have to live with this every day are massively opposed to it.”

Cllr Dawson said it was wrong that residents were having to deal with so many energy developments in their backyards, with incinerators, Grow How, Ince Resource and Recovery Park and now a wind farm – and that it was about time the community got adequate “pay back”.

Campaign group Residents Against the Windfarm (RAW) who represented the communities concerns during the public inquiry 10 months ago said that the community had been “badly let down” by the Government.

Roger Young, chairman of RAW said they were shocked by the decision following the report which they believed contained “many inaccuracies” and “one-sided opinions”.

“RAW feels our communities have been particularly badly let down by the Government who announced that they wanted efficient wind farms put where there was plenty of wind and not near large centres of population,” said Mr Young.

“So much for what they said when they then go and approve this one which will be a national under performer on a not very windy site with some 14,000 people living within 2 kms.

“This is a rotten decision for our local communities and the only ones cheering are Peel.”