|
LATEST NEWS:
10/11/09 A technological fix for radar shadow in the pipeline.
Windfarm manufacturers and Crown Estates have created a combined fund of £5.2 million
to research solutions to turbine interference with radar. There are a number of different solutions proposed which suggests a solution may not be that far away. To read the full New Scientist Article.
The question remains, why did the planning pannel for East Leeds reject this project rather than accept it on the condition that this issue was resolved?
This poor quality planning advice is both slowing the rate of climate change adaptaion and costing us money in unecessisary appeals and wasted council time!
Hook Moor Wind Farm, Rejected!
This application has been rejected on advice from the MOD Estates Department who are concerned with radar shadow effects on the trainning facility at RAF Church Fenton. The rejection of this development is worrying on a number of levels, firstly it means that Leeds City will not reach it's targets of renewable power generation of 11MW by 2010. Correspondance with the environment lead from the council indicates that they have no backup plans nor indeed any coherent renewables strategy worthy of the name.
(N.B. The council will make it's renewable targets for 2010 because it is using electricity made from landfill methane, essentially a one-off by product, that no reasonable person would designate as renewable).
The second issue is the lack of will displayed by the MOD is tackling the technical fixes required for renewables schemes. The Defense Estates department is largely concerned with protecting the MOD from any extra finnancial exposure. This displays the petty-fogging bureaucratic attitude the country has come to know and love from the MOD,
an organization which has utterly failed to understand the potential strategic implications of climate change.
Project Brief
The regional spatial strategy for Yorkshire and the Humber sets a challenging target of ensuring that at least 10% of electricity consumed in the region is generated from the region’s renewable resources by 2010. It is estimated that approximately 708 MW of renewable energy capacity will be required to be installed if the region as a whole is to achieve its 2010 target, with 88 MW of this being targeted for West Yorkshire and 11MW (including 10MW from wind energy) from Leeds. The Hook Moor proposal will have an installed capacity of between 10MW and 15MW, thereby presenting itself as an ideal candidate that meets planning policy requirements and delivers Leeds 2010 target.
Key Facts Site Area 26.8 hectares of which 2.5 hectares will be occupied by the wind turbines and their associated infrastructure when the wind farm is operational (9% of total site area). Number of turbines 5 Rated output of turbines 2-3 Megawatts Dimension of turbines Tower height approximately 80 metres,total height to tip 125m. Length of access tracks 2 kilometres Duration 25 years plus two years construction anddecommissioning. Jobs Approximately 20-30 on site during construction and extra jobs in transport and services. Approximately one operation and maintenance job. Traffic A maximum of around 63 vehicle movements per day during construction is anticipated. The number of daily loads will vary considerably over the construction period. This maximum would only occur during a single month. Average daily vehicle movements calculated over the construction period would be around 44.
|
|
Hook Moor Wind Turbines |
