COUNCIL chiefs are expected to rule next month on whether to give the green light to a controversial plan to build a wind farm in Aston.

Earlier this year, Vale Royal plan-ners voted 7-5 in favour of building a 50m meteorological mast tower to measure wind speeds.

Located on Aston Grange Farm in Aston, the tower will help determine whether a Tegni Cymru Ltd wind farm would be viable in the area.

Tegni Cymru is expected to submit an application for a four turbine wind farm by the end of the month, subject to the completion of environmental assessment studies.

The application will include a request for planning permission to erect four wind turbines - that would have 80 metre high towers, 45 metre-long blades, thereby giving an overall tip height of 125 metres - a substation, access tracks and a permanent wind monitoring mast.

The proposal will be for a wind farm site with four wind turbines up to three megawatts (mw) in capacity, giving the site a potential rated capacity of 12 mw. This translates to about 29,500mw hours per annum, which is equivalent to the annual average energy needs of approximately 6,700 homes - with an average energy consumption per household of 4,345 kilowatt hours per year.

Based upon the UK 2001 Census, this equates to approximately 13.5% of the domestic electricity needs of Vale Royal borough. An application for a wind monitoring mast was approved in June 2004 by Vale Royal council and was recently erected at the site.

According to the borough's local plan and national policy for Green Belt land, a development that is not related to forestry or agriculture in such an area is usually deemed 'in-appropriate'.

However, planning permission can be granted if the applicant demonstrates 'very special circumstances' to justify development.

The council has received 48 letters of objection, including a petition of 20 names.

Alan Dickson, chairman of Aston Parish Council, said: 'The main thing is the impact it will have on the aesthetic beauty of that part of the Weaver Vale.

'It's an environmental impact and a visual impact and, of course, what it is intended to lead on to, which is a wind farm, but no one seems interested in that fact at the moment.'