£1m of new turbine planning permissions secured

THREE wind farms to be installed by Wetherby wind turbine firm Earthmill have secured planning permission ahead of the deadline before the latest change in feed-in tariffs.

The total worth of the farm-scale turbines is more than £1m and will be installed in Keighley, St Stephen in Cornwall and Kendal in Cumbria.

Sam Dewar, senior planner at Earthmill, said: “There is a growing recognition of the important role played by the small-scale wind turbines that are being installed across the country, both in terms of the contribution they make in reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels, but also the opportunity they offer farmers to diversify and gain a valuable – and sustainable – additional income stream.

“Although relatively small farm-scale turbines are embraced by many people, the journey to successfully gaining planning consent to install a turbine can be a long and arduous one.”

Earthmill’s three latest turbines to be given consent encountered a variety of obstacles along the way, including a lengthy public consultation process in Cornwall that saw over 50 emails and telephone conversations exchanged with the local residents, parish council, ward councillor and the local school. The turbine position also had to be relocated twice before submission.

The firm, which employs 34 people at its head office in Wetherby, has now installed more than 200 small scale turbines during the last six years.