Protests mark the sanction of wind farm at Middlemoor

The government’s decision to sanction setting up of an 18 turbine wind power plant at Middlemoor, North Charlton has met with vigorous protests.

Residents of Middlemoor have criticized this project on the grounds that the wind turbines at a height of 125m will mar the appearance of the countryside. It will also have a negative impact on tourism in the area. CEO of the environmental group SANE, Nick Blezard emphatically stated that the government’s going ahead with sanction was surprising given the number of tourist spots in the area such as Bamburgh, Newton-by-the-Sea and Ros Castle that will be affected by the coming up of wind turbines in their vicinity. Blezard expressed his dismay at the total setting aside of these factors by the planning inspector before sanctioning the wind farm.

The only way out seems to be the hurdles created by the Ministry of Defence that the turbines will adversely affect the functioning of the radar systems at Brizlee Wood, in the vicinity of the planned wind farm. This would in turn even affect the security of the nation. With this in mind, the Ministry of Defence has stipulated a period of five years within which Npower renewables must find a way out of this issue. While this project has been under deliberation since year 2004, the number of turbines planned has been decreased from 25 to 18 by Npower renewables following public concern.

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