AN ECO-CONSCIOUS Christian community in Essex is hoping that a proposed change within the law will pave the best way for a latest wind turbine that it has long sought to put in rather than an oil generator.
The Othona Community, in Bradwell-on-Sea, is greater than a kilometre from the electricity grid. Connection to mains power would cost it greater than £100,000, it says. The community has already spent £450,000 on decarbonising and upgrading its energy systems, and has fitted solar panels and battery storage. It already has a 5kW wind turbine.
Two years ago, after successfully securing a grant of £27,000, its application for a second, 25kW turbine was turned down by Maldon District Council on 4 grounds, including the potential visual effect, and the potential effect on a site of scientific interest (SSSI), which the community acknowledges to be an issue.
Richard Sanders, who’s joint warden of the positioning along with his wife, Debbie, said that care of the environment was “really vital” to the community. “We would very very similar to to proceed to be on the forefront of carbon reduction fairly than trailing behind. The Church of England has plans to be carbon-neutral by 2030, but we will’t be carbon-neutral until we get this turbine.”
The community, which has been hosting summer camps and other activities on the Dengie Peninsula since 1946, would also wish to have an electric-vehicle charging point; but this may mean greater use of the oil generator, which already costs £5000 a yr. It has joined the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in calling for a change within the law to enable farmers to place up a single turbine without reapplying for planning permission.
“Small wind turbines as much as 30 metres high, with a capability of 40kW to 50kW, are very talked-about with loads of farmers,” the NFU’s chief adviser for renewable energy and climate change, Dr Jonathan Scurlock, said. “We think this suits well with the Government’s priorities for growth and decarbonisation. We need this streamlined planning measure to encourage farmers to take a position in being more energy self-sufficient. . . We wish to support the agricultural economy, and we wish to decarbonise.”
Othona is pinning its hopes on the Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce, which — in an effort to make the UK a “clean-energy superpower” — is devoted to radically increasing wind deployment by 2020. One of its goals is to “unlock the barriers to deployment that onshore wind developers face”, by identifying any financial, regulatory, or policy challenges stopping the efficient and cost-effective construction and operation of onshore wind projects.
A package of measures to support farmers and encourage the expansion of the farming and food sector was announced by the previous government in May. The plan including ensuring the sector had access to inexpensive and sustainable energy and water, and cutting planning requirements to make it easier and quicker to construct glasshouses. But the move got here because the General Election was announced, and the consultation was delayed.
