There are now just three days left before the consultation on Allerdale's draft local plan ends.
It is very important that the Council receives a big response from those of us who are concerned about the proliferation of wind turbines. Indeed it is an opportunity for us to perhaps influence the content of the final document. There is no question that Allerdale needs a great deal more protection from ruthless developers than the Council seems able to offer us at the moment.
The draft plan is in two parts: 'Core Strategy' and 'Development Management,' both of which can be downloaded from the following webpage.
The pages which deal specifically with renewable energy, and in particular wind energy, can be found in the chapter on 'Economy' in the Core Strategy - EC8 Standalone Renewable or Low Carbon Technology.
Whilst the local plan itself is a very large document, EC8 takes up just a few pages which are well worth reading if you are concerned about inappropriate wind energy development.
Below is a list of points which we believe the Council should take into serious consideration when preparing the next stage of the Local Plan. You are welcome to cut, paste and forward this list from your own email address to Allerdale Borough Council with any additions or deletions that you care to make. Please just add your name and address.
Comments on the draft plan should be sent to
to arrive no later than 31st July – next Tuesday.
Letters can be sent to
Planning Policy Team, Planning Services, Allerdale Borough Council, Allerdale House, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 3YJ
Please do join us in making sure that our Council is left in no doubt that a large proportion of Allerdale's residents are against further inappropriate wind energy development.
· EC8 would be much strengthened by rigorous cross referencing with other parts of the Core Strategy such as Landscape, Biodiversity and Geodiversity, Historic Environment to name just a few.
· There should be reference in EC8 to the protection of the countryside from unnecessary development. This is a statement which, with some variations, recurs in other parts of the Core Strategy.
· Given the significance of the problem of wind farm proliferation in the Borough of Allerdale, we feel that a Development Management Policy on renewable energy should form an essential part of the Local Plan. We note that Copeland has included just such a policy and that it lays down very specific requirements in relation to future applications. It also makes specific reference to the Cumbria Wind Energy Supplementary Planning Document, a very useful tool which appears to have been marginalised by Allerdale Borough Council's policymakers in the preparation of the LDF.
· We believe that, in the interest of residents' health and amenity, the Council should consider introducing set back distances from unassociated properties for wind turbines commensurate with the size and number of the turbines but certainly not less than 500m for the genuinely small scale machines (15m height only) with the next minimum distance being no less than 1000m for medium scale turbines.
· In light of the fact that the Council is currently receiving many applications for single turbines (most of them well in excess of the DECC definition of small scale), we believe it is now essential that these structures are included in cumulative assessments, including sequential cumulative effect, in the future.
· As the proliferation of wind energy development is now such a significant issue in the Borough, we believe that the Local Plan should specify that all applications for wind turbines over 15m hub height should be decided by councillors at the Development Panel. Additionally, borough councillors should be immediately informed if a wind energy application comes forward within their ward.
name and address
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