A public inquiry into the Middlemoor Wind Farm has concluded.
The three week inquiry over the 18 turbines at Middlemoor started on Tuesday 13th November at Northumberland Hall, Alnwick.
It saw Alnwick District Council defend its decision made in February 2007 to object to the application by npower renewables for consent for the wind farm.
The Inspector intends to submit his report to the Secretary of State by the end of March 2008, and we would expect a decision about 3 months after that.
Clare Wilson, Regional Development Manager said, "We are happy with the way the Inquiry panned out and look forward to seeing an operating wind farm at North Charlton."
"There is an urgent need to tackle climate change and Northumberland is making poor progress towards its target of producing 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010."
The site benefits from a number of features that allowed us to design an environmentally-friendly wind farm:
- Open exposed farmland that benefits from good wind speeds.
- Sparsely populated area allowing a good separation from existing properties.
- The turbines would coexist with existing agricultural practices to support farm diversification.
- There are no national or regional landscape designations.
- Underground grid connection available.
The proposal is for a reduced scheme of 18 turbines, with a combined maximum output of between 54-75 megawatts.
A wind farm of this size would generate enough electricity each year to supply the average needs of some 27,600 homes - that's more than enough to power every home in both Alnwick and Berwick. Detailed environmental assessments of the site and the surrounding area have been undertaken over a 5 year period and are included in the Environmental Statement that forms part of the planning application.
The wind farm will provide a number of local environmental benefits through a habitat management plan and would provide local economic benefits especially during construction.
npower renewables would also set up a community benefits package that would see between £50,000 and £75,000 per year going to local community, education, energy efficiency, and environmental projects.
Copies of the Enviornmental statement and the Non Technical Summary thereof, are available at the offices of both Alnwick District Council and Northumberland County Council, as well as, at Alnwick library, the Northumberland mobile library and at South Charlton Village Hall (subject to access).
Middlemoor Wind Farm
