Villagers Meet To Oppose Strensham Wind Farm

10.03.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 8th Oct 2008

Over 80 villagers from Strensham, Twyning and Ripple packed into Strensham village hall on 7 October to discuss proposals for three wind turbines close to Strensham village.

Protesters heard that there would be a fly past at 6pm the following day to illustrate the height of the proposed turbines which, at 126m high, they claim would dominate the landscape.

The proposed development on farmland would put the nearest turbine just 650m from the south west edge of Strensham village.

Local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt was invited to speak at the meeting and pledged his support for the campaign.

Richard said: "There is clearly a need to develop renewable energy to combat global warming. We have only got to look as far as the river Severn to see the results of climate change.

"However, government has failed to protect the rights of residents as developers look for any site that would give them guaranteed profits for the lifetime of the scheme.

"These wind turbines would be enormous within the local landscape, with rotor blades similar to the wingspan of a jumbo jet.

"They will cause flicker from rotating blades at sunrise and sunset for residents living east and west of the turbines, others may suffer sleep loss and health problems from noise and oscillation, and house prices may fall.

"Government should ensure a minimum 2 kilometre distance between any proposed development and the nearest homes, similar to regulations in place in Scotland and elsewhere in Europe.

Mr Burt has also signed a petition calling on the government to introduce a statutory 2 kilometre minimum distance between any development and the nearest homes.