Minutes of the Planning Meeting of Ermington Parish Council held in the Parish Rooms on Monday 16 December 2013 commencing at 7.30pm
Present: / Cllrs John Bower, Roy Hartwell, Ro Hughes, John Kerslake, Kathy Toms (part only*), Di WebleyAlso present: / Ms D Trower
Parishioners present: / 28
Chair: / Cllr R Hughes
Cllrs T Auburn, M Auburn and G Elliott (having previously attended meetings of the SHOUWT group) and Cllr I Walsh (living adjacent to the development site) had all declared an interest and did not attend the meeting.
The Chair introduced the purpose of the Planning Meeting and explained that whilst Parish Councillors had availed themselves of much information regarding the application they had remained open minded throughout.
*Cllr K Toms read a statement to the meeting in which she explained that she had felt obliged to resign from the Parish Council by notification to the Chair and Clerk (a copy of this statement is available upon request). She then left the meeting.
142/13
To consider the following planning application -
Date submitted to SHDC / Application Ref / Applicant / Location / Proposal07/11/2013 / 21/2689/13/F / Fine Energy / Wind turbine at SX 6112 5391, Coyton, Yealmpton, PL21 9LD / Installation of a single 55kw wind turbine, with 25 metre hub height, 35 metre tip height and associated equipment
The item commenced with a Public Participation Session as follows –
Mr Peter Shinner, son of the owners of Coyton Farm, believed that the turbine would enhance the landscape, that it would be very quiet, would not affect wildlife and would be an educational resource. He highlighted the existence of pylons on the farm which were taller than the proposed turbine. He noted Cornwall County Council research which showed that turbines could be an attraction to visitors. Mr P Shinner advised that his family was one of only 4 remaining farming families in the parish and that farmers did need to diversify, especially in this case due to the poor health of his parents.
Mr Bob Knightly, local resident, recorded his support for the Shinner family. He believed that the proposal was only a small one, that there were dozens of similar sized turbines in North Devon and that he did not find them intrusive. Mr Knightley stated that if people wanted to see small farms like Coyton continue then this was one way of helping them to make their livelihood a little better.
Mr Steve Murphy, local resident and retired Flight Lieutenant, advised that he farmed a small amount of livestock in the north of the parish. He wished to highlight that from the ground at Coyton the radar signal at Wembury could be detected; the pylons however did not affect the radar since they had no moving parts. Mr Murphy advised that he was upset to find developers promising farmers schemes which would inevitably be turned down due to this issue. Mr Murphy also highlighted the number letters of objection (as opposed to those of support) on the SHDC website and felt it was the duty of the Parish Council to represent the majority in this matter. The Chair responded to confirm that the Parish Council did have a duty to represent the people of the parish but reminded everyone that they needed to remember that it was generally people against an application who wrote letters rather than those in favour.
Mr Hygate, Fine Energy, reported that he had seen Mr Murphy’s letter and had subsequently gone back to draw up a line of sight but there was none. He acknowledged that should he be wrong then of course the application would be thrown out.
The Chair commented that she understand that the MOD was determined to leave its response until the “11th hour” and so therefore the Parish Council could not currently take this matter into consideration one way or another.
Mrs P Southern, Brook Farm, advised that her home was approximately ½ mile from the proposed site. She noted that her concern was for her daughter who suffered severely from ME and was therefore very sensitive to noise, light etc. Mrs Southern was also concerned that if one turbine should be approved then others would follow.
The Chair noted that as she understood matters there was no such thing as precedent in planning law, with each and every application having to be considered on its own merits.
Mr Rupert Shinner, son of the owners of Coyton Farm, spoke in favour of the application. He noted that farming was the UK’s most essential industry and produced the ultimate “energy”. The majority of farmers in the UK were over 60 years old and the industry needed 16 new entrants every week but there were sadly more people leaving mainly for financial reasons. Mr R Shinner hoped to take on running the family farm with his brother and develop a forward looking business. He noted that the Parish Council promoted Sustainable Saturdays and he believed the turbine would be promoting sustainability not just on a Saturday but on 7 days a week.
Mr Alan Ellis, farmer of land adjacent to the village on the northern side. Mr Ellis noted that his family had been associated with the village for over 100 years. He was saddened by the stance adopted by the SHOUWT group and added that he had no faith in the Parish Council.
Mr Darryl Cowens, working as an agricultural contractor around Ivybridge and Cornwood, and a member of Young Farmers who had raised many thousands of pounds for local charities. Mr Cowens noted that Young Farmers were very much in favour of renewable energy but did not like to see land go out of use for agriculture and therefore had been very disappointed by Mr Toms’ solar farm. Mr Cowens noted that all farmers were having to consider diversification. He mentioned a trip to the Netherlands and that he had detected no noise when visiting wind turbines.
Olivia Northmore, living on a local farm, felt that small scale wind turbines were in keeping with the local landscape and that noise from them was minimal. She requested support for hard working farming families in the community.
Ms T Trappes-Lomax commented that she had huge sympathy for farmers. However she did not feel that the District Council was helping matters by having no clear strategy, thus allowing ad hoc applications concentrating on some very beautiful countryside and in some cases taking out agricultural land and widening lanes thus allowing even further development. Some were highly invasive, the energy often not coming to the community (with the South Brent one being the exception), and with wind turbines being the least efficient generators of renewable energy. Ms Trappes-Lomax suggested solar panels for the roofs of all industrial buildings etc. She believed that pressure needed to be put on South Hams to support appropriate renewable energies.
Mr Hygate, Fine Energy, agreed that a strategy was required. He added however that small turbines such as that proposed put their energy into the local system, with it being used up long before it got to the national grid. Mr Hygate advised that no lane widening would be required for the Coyton turbine since these lanes already had articulated vehicles using them.
Mr Howard Johnson, Fursdon Farm, advised that he lived only 300m away from the proposed turbine and would see 60/70% of it every day. He noted that the majority of the 51 objections currently registered on the SHDC website were from Westlake residents as they would clearly be most affected. Mr Johnson stated that he would expect the Parish Council to take this into account.
Mr Roger Reid, retired teacher having lived for 32 years in Westlake, advised that his main concern was on the visual impact and the fact that residents there might soon be surrounded by wind turbines and solar farms.
Mr Malcolm Shinner, owner of Coyton Farm, noted that SHOUWT had been attending the meetings of various other Parish Councils. Mr Shinner wished to know if any queries had been received by EPC from bodies such as SHOUWT querying the factual contact of his/the Fine Energy application and if so would the Parish Council be raising any queries in its submission to SHDC.
The Chair advised that the Parish Council had not been in receipt of any direct lobbying from SHOUWT, she was not aware of any undue pressure being put on members of the Council and that unsubstantiated information remained just that.
The public participation session finished at 8.25pm.
Discussion followed amongst the Parish Councillors with issues highlighted including effect on the ANOB and Dartmoor National Park, disturbance of stillness of unspoilt countryside, effect on listed properties in the area, uncertainty over possible effect on bats and birds, proximity to and impact on visual amenity of neighbouring properties, damage to lanes and hedges, lack of transport plan, lack of report from the MOD, effect on private airstrip at Hunsdon Lea, lack of specific background noise checks, no development timetable, lack of consultation with EPC and local residents.
The Parish Council considered the benefits of the scheme in terms of generation of 55kw of green energy and in supporting the local farming community but on balance (2 in favour, 3 objecting) did not believe that the generation of electricity for 60 houses warranted the harm the turbine would cause. It was therefore RESOLVED to object to the application.
Post meeting note: a copy of the Parish Council’s response to SHDC is attached as Appendix “A”.
The meeting finished at 8.50pm.
Signature: ……………………………………….. Date: 7 January 2014
(Presiding Chair)
APPENDIX “A”
Response to Planning Application 21/2689/13/F : OBJECTION
55kw Wind Turbine at Coyton, Ermington
The Parish Council considered the above application at a Planning Meeting held on 16 December 2013. The Parish Council does not believe that the small scale contribution of 55kw of electricity provided by the turbine outweighs the adverse impact on the landscape and parish residents. Its material planning reasons for objecting to the proposal together with other relevant comments are as follows:
1. The siting of the proposed turbine would have a significant, adverse impact on an unspoiled and sensitive landscape; at 35 metres overall height it would stand as a dominant feature on the skyline with an adverse impact on both the AONB and Dartmoor National Park.
2. The proposed turbine would impact on a number of Grade 2 properties within 3km of the proposed site.
3. The planning documents lack sufficient evidence that harm will not be caused to bats and birds.
4. No detailed analysis of the physical limitations of delivering equipment (including a 50 tonne crane) and materials to the site during construction has been undertaken; no timetable is provided either. This has implications for damage to hedges and inconvenience for other road users.
5. The siting and size of the proposed turbine would impact on the visual amenity of Old Treby Farm, Oakhill, Winsor Farm, Sharnica and Fursdon Farm as well as residents of Hunsdon who are within 1300 metres of the site.
6. Serious safety issues arise as a result of the apparent lack of account of a private airstrip at Hunsdon Lea situated 1200 metres from the proposed site.
7. Data provided on noise is based on the turbine being an Endurance E3120 model but the data is devalued by the developers statement that it is not committed to using that turbine; plus no specific background noise checks have been undertaken.
8. There has been a total lack of consultation with the Parish Council and parishioners on this project.
9. The response from parish residents has been overwhelmingly against the project.
10. DCLG and NPPF encourage planning authorities to produce renewable and low carbon development in suitable areas where impacts can be made more acceptable. Ermington Parish Council intends to produce an Energy Plan for that purpose.
Cllr Ro Hughes
Chair, Ermington Parish Council
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Planning Meeting: Monday 16 December 2013
Chair’s Initials: ………….