Strategic Planning Committee Meeting (click for more..)
At a meeting held at the Council Offices in Truro, the SPC finally rejected the Davidstow Windfarm application by 12 votes to 3 with 1 abstention
Thu 11 Mar
Strategic Planning Committee Update
This is a report by Simon King (Planning Officer) to the SPC recommending that
"the application [be brought] back to Committee to be assessed afresh if the
application has not been called-in by the Secretary of State or the
mitigation measures have not been agreed to the point of completing a
planning obligation by 1 July 2010"
Mon 8 March
The petition to No 10 Downing St on ETSU-R97 is still open and closes on 16 April.
Have you signed it? If not Click here
Tue 23 Feb
Click here for map of properties within 3 km
Fri 5 Feb 2010
Archeology page added
Fri 26 January 2010
Noise page updated
Tue 2 Feb 2010
Draft National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy
The Government has published a draft set of National Policy Statements
concerned with various large infrastructure projects
It says that the changes are a response to the delays and costs associated with taking major infrastructure projects through the existing planning system. These included long public inquiries and a lack of clarity around national policy and the need for developers to seek a range of different consents for the same project.
Of these, No.3 is concerned with Renewable Energy including onshore wind farms
data.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/documents/npss/EN-3.pdf
This section on onshore wind farms includes a number of points which we would consider to be undesirable or plain wrong:
 | There is a section on proximity to dwellings which mentions appropriate distances but does not give any specific details of what might be appropriate |
| It claims that a wind farm of 25 years' life (with an option to repower) is not to be considered permanent! |
| It says that there will always be significant landscape and visual effects without saying that the wind farm should not be built if these are unacceptable |
| It states that ETSU-R-97 should be used for noise assessments without pointing out its multiple defects |
| It states that shadow flicker should be considered for a turbine within 10 rotor diameters of a house m- without any justification for this distance |
| etc etc |
There is a deadline of February 22nd, so please act quickly
www.nationalpolicystatements.org.uk/page2.html
www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/home/responding
Tue 2 Feb 2010
New Highland Council Visualisation Standards
The Highland Council have published new Visualisation
Standards for Wind Energy Developments, which are now
issued to windfarm applicants. The Standards are in
accordance with the Letter issued to all Heads of
Planning by the Director and Chief Planner, Scottish
Government, dated January 2009. The Letter states
Planning Authorities should make clear in any scoping
advice their visualisation requirements and where these
have not been provided use their powers to request further
information from applicants
The new Standards have been drawn up because of widespread complaints from the public, planning officers and elected members regarding misleading visualisations submitted in Environmental Statements for windfarm applications, which is in breach of the spirit and understanding of the EIA Regulations. Recently built windfarms in Scotland have also revealed a considerable discrepancy between the planning visualisations and the built reality.
The Highland Council Standards are the result of over one year's investigation, empirical testing and research by the Council's Planning and Development Service and will take precedence over all existing guidance for any windfarm application within the Highland Council Region. Applications, which do not conform, to their requirements will not be processed. Perth and Kinross Council have now adopted the same Standards and other Councils are likely to follow.
The New Standards can be viewed here
January 2010
Heavy Snow on Bodmin Moor
Click here to see a slideshow of the recent heavy snow
3 Dec 2009
About Bill Arnall
Fri 27 Nov 2009
STINC on the BBC!
STINC Commitee member Karen Briggs highlighted the views of STINC on BBC Radio
Cornwall Last Thursday as part of the Laurence Reed show. He hosted another hot debate on
the Davidstow Windfarm
Listen again (Starts at 36:18)
Also The November issue of the North Cornwall Advertiser included a wonderful article on the Starlings at Davidstow. Read it again
Fri 27 Nov 2009
DAVIDSTOW Objections status
See also Cornwall Council press release
The application was approved by the SPC subject to conditions that had to be satisfied.
The developer had to find a way to solve the problems raised in the
objections from Air Traffic Control (NATS/NERL), RSPB and Natural England.
This has still not happened. The developer has said that they were expecting to
get results this week to a survey they paid for, that was looking for a solution to
the Air Traffic Control communications problems that the windfarm would cause
As of today, Friday 27 Nov, nothing has been heard from them on that front. RSPB and Natural England are still in discussion regarding whether or not mitigation can be found for the problems the windfarm would cause to birds. The objections may not be solvable and eventually the application could fail, or alternatively all the problems could be sorted out next week - it might all depend on how much money the developer can throw at the problems.
URGENT - ACTION NEEDED - regarding Possible Call-In
The Government Office of the South West has sent out an Article 14 Letter to the
Planning Department at Cornwall Council. This instructs the council that the
GOSW is considering "calling in" the application, that the council can't approve
the application while the call-in is being considered and that the council is to send
over copies of all their files regarding the planning application (which runs to
many boxes). The council is still allowed to refuse the application while the
GOSW is considering the files.
You can read more about the Call-In process at
www.gos.gov.uk/gosw/planninghome/planningcase/cinplanning
Having considered all the information in the planning files, the GOSW can decide either to recommend to the Secretary of State that the application should be sent on to a planning inspector for a public enquiry, or return the decision to the Council. Getting the application in front of a planning inspector, who would give full weight to all planning regulations including ones regarding landscape, seems like a good thing to us.
Please would you therefore write to the Government Office of the South West, explaining to them why you think this application should be called in. As you will see on their website, there are many reasons for call-in including (see link above)
The Plymouth Office of the GOSW is handling the investigation of the call-in (not the Bristol one on their website) so please write to:
Tara Dickenson
Planning & Housing Delivery Team
Mast House
Shepherds Wharf
24 Sutton Road
Plymouth
PL4 OHJ
Phone 01752 635186 or email: tara.dickenson@gosw.gsi.gov.uk
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT
Please write letters (remember to quote the
planning number of 2008/01432). This could sort out the Davidstow application
without costing us a fortune. Legal fees for fighting a windfarm through the
courts can run to £20,000 or even more. So please write and talk to your friends
and neighbours about supporting this too
It is pretty rare for the Government Offices to get as far as sending out the Article 14 letter and asking to see the files, this is a major step. We all really need to work hard to try and get this to go one more step and be actually called in and go to a public enquiry.
Sun 25 Oct 2009
10-Minute Rule Bill for Buffer Zone between wind farms and houses
CPRE Cornwall is supporting this bill - For details
Click here
Tue 13 Oct 2009
Strategic Planning Meeting
Membership
Agenda
Minutes
Councillor attendance
Davidstow
The end of a very long discussion was that the committee first voted on deferral
until the outcome of the air traffic control problems was known for certain and the mitigation
offered regarding birds was finally sorted as to whether or not it could be done. This went to
an equal number on either side
Next vote was for approval - subject to the air traffic control technical objection and the bird mitigation being sorted. This was approved by a majority vote. I think - and didn't have the best angle to see - that it was 8 for, 5 against, 3 abstaining. Those voting against asked for their names to be recorded.
Otterham
Both windfarm applications approved with two voting against on safety issues beside
the road
Wed 16 Sep 2009
Cornish Declaration
Councillors at a meeting of the full Cornwall Council supported a motion to endorse the Cornish
Declaration which calls on the Government to forge an agreement among all nations to keep the
increase in temperature of the planet to below 2 C
more
The Declaration
Tue 22 Sep 2009
Davidstow & Otterham
Both applications will now be considered at a Strategic Planning Committee meeting
on Tuesday, 13th October, 2009 at 6.00 pm in Camelford
(Council Chamber, College Road, Camelford, PL32 9TL)
Wed 12 Aug 2009
Davidstow & Otterham
The
East Sub-Area Planning Committee
considered the Davidstow and Otterham planning applications yesterday and voted to refuse all of them
See Western Morning News report
They also voted to not send the applications on to the Strategic Committee. The planning advisor said they didn't have the power to do that, so both applications will be going on to the Strategic Planning Committee
You can also read the statement made by Colin Coudery to the meeting about the visualisation issue
Click here
Mon 3 Aug 2009
Davidstow & Otterham
Both applications will now be considered at a Special East Sub-Area Planning Committee meeting
on Tuesday, 11th August, 2009 at 5.00 pm in Camelford
(Council Chamber, College Road, Camelford, PL32 9TL)
Fri 31 July 2009
Photo Shoot
The Cornish Guardian is running an article on the windfarms next week and wanted some photos of people up at the Davidstow site
We mustered 29 people and plenty of banners. There were two sets of photos, one set on the road, over towards the middle of the wind farm, with the 50m anemometer mast in the background. As everyone said who saw the mast - "THAT's fifty meters - the turbines will be HUGE!". Then a second set up beside Crowdy reservoir with the background of the fields and woods where the turbines would be sited.
Wed 22 Jul 2009
Davidstow planning meeting
No date yet - might be 13th August, but not settled
As of 21/7/09 the totals of comments received by NCDC were:
| In Support | 17 |
| Objections | 304 |
| Comment only | 10 |
Note that if you do not make it CLEAR that you OBJECT, you letter gets filed as a Comment
Make sure that you use the phrase I OBJECT - probably as a title
Tue 7 Jul 2009
Otterham and Davidstow planning meeting
Otterham and Davidstow are no longer pencilled in for the planning meeting of 23rd July 2009.
They may, or may not, be in the August meeting
Both developers have submitted substantial new information and so this has to be scrutinised by the appropriate consultees. All large windfarms planning applications include an Environmental Impact Statement covering all possible aspects of building a windfarm on the suggested site. Davidstow submission is being scrutinised by STINC, Otterham by GAWP. This is a really time consuming process, but otherwise there isn't much to say about this – so if the website doesn't change for a month or two, don't think we've gone!
Thu 2 Jul 2009
Tichbarrow Planning Application Withdrawn
The developer, Ecotricity, has withdrawn its application
Tue Dec 2 2008
Delabole Repower Application Approved
The Delabole Repower application by GoodEnergy was approved by the NCDC planning committee on 2nd December 2008.
Tue Sep 16 2008
Camelford Town Council planning meeting - Meeting invitation at NCDC offices 7pm
Camelford Town Council will be holding a planning meeting Tuesday 16th September 7pm. Community Windpower Ltd have been invited to attend. This is an open meeting and all are invited to attend
Fri Aug 29 2008
Davidstow planning application update - new deadline 25th September 2008
The details on the planning application web site have changed. The deadline for objections has moved out to 25th September 2008 and the number of statutory consultees has grown from 6 to 52
Tue Aug 26 2008
Stop Davidstow windfarm, save a million birds!!
Rowan Farmer has created a
Facebook group to spread awareness of the threat
to Davidstow and Bodmin moor from the proposed windfarm
If you are not already a member, you will need to join Facebook to be able to see this item
Tue Aug 26 2008
Meeting invitation at NCDC offices 7pm
Camelford Town Council has called an emergency public meeting at the NCDC offices, College Road, Camelford on 26th August 2008 at 7pm to assess the views of residents
Fri Aug 22 2008
Meeting invitation at Advent Parish Church
Advent parish has called a meeting at Advent Parish Church on Saturday 23rd
August 2008 at 8pm to assess the views of residents
Wed Aug 6 2008
Meeting invitation at Otterham and St Juliot Hall
Davidstow Parish Council has called a meeting at Otterham and St Juliot Hall
(opposite Otterham primary school) on 19th August 2008 at 7pm to asses the views
of residents
Mon Aug 4 2008
Planning Application for Davidstow windfarm submitted
Latest exhibition and website updates
At the latest exhibitions held by Community Windpower Ltd, we managed to maintain a presence for most of the two days, joined by various of our supporters, handing out leaflets, car stickers etc
We asked the company representatives lots of questions
You can read them and the answers we received here
We would like to thank all of those people who gave their time to stand in the cold and rain to be with us.
New information on the developer's website states:
From Following our initial studies and ongoing Community Consultation, we have:
 |
Moved the turbines from the airfield on Davidstow Moor |
|
Reduced the overall footprint of the Windfarm |
|
Increased the separation distance from the turbines and the local houses |
|
Sited the turbines away from the SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and ecological sensitive areas |
|
Offered additional Community Benefits and Investments to the local area |
|
Adjusted the location of turbines away from the existing communication links which run across the site |
|
Revised the proposed enhancement to Davidstow Woods and the link footpaths to Crowdy and Roughtor |
The developer has an interactive map which gives the viewpoints from four locations. The photomontages fail to meet the Scottish National Heritage Guideline which the developer says they are working to. This means the images do not give a true impression of the visual impact of the windfarm
The revised layout has moved the turbines from the airfield, compressing them into Davidstow woods and the farmland to the southwest. Despite the flaws in the images, you can see from viewpoint 13 (from Bodmin Moor) how the turbines will tower over Davidstow woods
Tue Jul 15 2008
Planning application for Davidstow Meteorological Mast
A planning application has been submitted to NCDC for a 50m high "Temporary Meteorological
Mast" in land adjacent to the SW side of Davidstow Wood. The and is by Community Wind. The
details can be found on NCDC web site under
Application number 2008/01318
Sat Apr 26 2008
Delabole windfarm application
A planning application has been submitted for four 110 metre wind turbines to replace the
existing ten turbines at Deli Farm, Delabole