A WIND power firm has been given permission to erect a test mast at the site where it wants to create Suffolk's first in-shore wind farm.But Suffolk Coastal district councillors have stressed that does not mean the development itself would automatically get the go-ahead.
By Sarah Chambers
A WIND power firm has been given permission to erect a test mast at the site where it wants to create Suffolk's first in-shore wind farm.
But Suffolk Coastal district councillors have stressed that does not mean the development itself would automatically get the go-ahead.
The council's development control sub-committee met yesterday and backed proposals for the 50m anemometry mast for testing wind speeds and directions at Parham Airfield.
The applicant, Saxon Windpower, has already unveiled their proposals for six 101m wind turbines at the site and is currently awaiting a scoping document from the council setting out what it would like to see in an Environmental Impact Assessment on them.
The EIA will be carried out before the wind company submits any planning application for the turbines.
As the sub-committee unanimously backed plans for the test mast, its chairman, Ivan Jowers, made it clear this did not affect any future wind farm application.
"This does not create a precedent," he said.
The local councillor, Colin Hart, supported an objection to the test mast lodged by Great Glemham Parish Council, and said the site was surrounded by "some of the most beautiful countryside in Suffolk, if not in England".
Great Glemham Parish Council objected on a number of grounds, and claimed the proposed development departed from agreed local planning policies.
Other parish councils took a different view. Parham Parish Council raised no objections, Hacheston Parish Council supported the application, and Little Glemham Parish Council said it supported the application, but stressed this did not imply support for the related wind farm.
"The council believes that a speedy resolution of the question of the suitability or otherwise of the site is in the best interests of all concerned," it said.
Councillor Rae Leighton described Little Glemham's stance as "eminently sensible".
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