Benington wind turbine proposal, 2008 to 2012

Two were to be sited in the Green Belt with the third in the adjacent designated Rural Area. CPRE Hertfordshire worked with the local group ‘Stop Benington Wind Farm’ to oppose the application. We argued that the development was inappropriate in this tranquil rural area, and also that the construction impacts would have been severe for the small village of Watton-at-Stone on the access route to the site. The size of the turbine components and the crane needed to put them up would have meant having to dismantle much of the village high street to accommodate the width of the special lorry, and the project would have necessitated 88 separate journeys of this wide, slow moving vehicle. In early 2009 East Herts District Council refused the application, which was then appealed. We continued to speak out, and in 2010 the Inspector dismissed the appeal. In 2011 the applicant amended the proposal and submitted a new planning application and the process was repeated, with a second Inspector ultimately dismissing this appeal in 2012, four and a half years from the original application date.