A PAIR of wind turbines the same height as the Statue of Liberty were given the go-ahead for a Dee Valley beauty spot this morning.
There had been a mass of objections to the two 50kw structures being built at land in Llandrillo with a staggering 80 residents submitting their concerns to Denbighshire County Council.
The application was due to be decided at an October meeting of the authority’s planning committee, but was deferred at the request of Llandrillo councillor Cefyn Williams to give the applicants, both named Mr Jones, extra time to prepare.
The location is near the proposed Mynydd Mynyllod windfarm, where ScottishPower hopes to build 25 turbines, and there were fears if this application is approved it will set a precedent for that plan to be given the go ahead.
“Please decide that the time has come to protect our precious landscape and, at the same time, the visitor economy of which it is such a vital component,” said Andrew Jedwell from STEMM - Stop the Exploitation of Mynydd Mynyllod - in a letter to councillors ahead of the meeting.
“Stop these one-off decisions which are leading to the creeping industrialisation of our countryside and to a skyline increasingly punctured by wind factories.”
The two turbines were approved at this morning's planning meeting, despite a recommendation by officers they were refused, and will be built on agricultural land at livestock farm Syrior, Llandrillo, of 46.3 metres, roughly the same height as the iconic Statue of Liberty statue, which is 46.5 metres (151ft) high and together with the pedestal reaches a height of 93 metres (305ft).
The Snowdonia National Park Authority also objected to the application, urging the cumulative impact of the turbines with the existing Braich Ddu and proposed Mynydd Mynyllod to be considered because “the visual impact of turbines of different sizes and design would be inharmonious and visually confusing”.
There were six responses from residents submitted in favour of the plans with comments including feelings that turbines provide a safer form of energy than nuclear power.
The report by planning officers concluded: “The landscape impacts are considered to significantly outweigh the benefits of increased renewable energy generation.”
ALSO discussed at this morning’s planning meeting was an application for a wind turbine at 51 metres high at Ffridd Fawr, Prion, Denbigh.
The plans, put forward by Richard William, have not received as many objections as the Llandrillo turbines but have still prompted a negative response from residents whose concerns include the degradation of the landscape.
Planning officers recommended the committee refuse the application and said: “The officers’ view is that the proposal would unacceptably harm the character and appearance of this landscape and set an unacceptable precedent which if allowed to continue would have adverse cumulative affects”.
Councillors voted to refuse the Prion application this morning.
Also discussed this morning was a 32 turbine windfarm at Dyfnant Forest in Powys which would be visible from Denbighshire and a report ahead of the highly contentious Clocaenog Forest windfarm application which is expected to be submitted next month.