MABRAKE – Milton Abbot, BRadstone And KElly Action group.

Worth repeating from a post in July:-

Now coming to light is the fact that farmers who install Wind Turbines and or Solar Farms are liable to lose a large proportion of their Inheritance Tax relief as they will now be regarded as an Investment business rather than an Agriculture business.

I wonder how many Farmers have realised that their income from Turbines and Solar power will be seriously reduced after taking into account Tax advisors fees and the proportional loss of Inheritance Tax Relief!

Several people have asked for a location map. Ramsdown is a ridge of hills running roughly West to East and is clearly seen from all around. The proposed site for the turbine is at the Eastern end and close to the Lifton/Tavistock road (avoiding Chillaton). The proposed co-ordinates are given in the application 01243/2013.

Mr C Burchell has kindly allowed us to publish his letter to West Devon Borough Council Planning Department objecting to the proposed Beckwell Farm Wind Turbine:-

RE: PLANNING Application 01243/2013 35m wind turbine, Beckwell Farm, Milton Abbot, Tavistock.

I wish to OBJECT to this application on the following grounds:

1) The site is on a prominent ridge between DNP and the Tamar Valley AONB and will intrude on distant views to and from Dartmoor.

Re. Policy NE10(ii)

2) The site overlooks an area of great landscape value. AGLV, and will intrude upon view to and from Brentor Church National Monument.

Re.Policy BE2 para 3.10 (Local Plan)and Nat. Policy Framework p.26 para 115 and P.30 para 128 &129

3) The siting of this turbine will affect local residences in particular Devon Yurt holidays adjacent to Beckwell Farm.

Re. Policy BE18 (Local Plan)

4) There will be visual intrusion upon the following properties.

a) Down House farm

b) Willistrew Farm

c) Haycombe Farm.

d) Uppaton Farm.

e) Narracott farm

f) Warracott Farm

g) Borough.

.

5) Ramsdown is the site of an ancient Iron Age hill fort settlement, and the site will affect this.

Re:590.Castle Park Camp.SX4240 7980 and Policy BE7 Para. 3.27 and BE8 para 3.29 and BE9 and BE10 (Local Plan)

6) Proliferation and intervisibility. There are two 18m turbines approved at Tredown Farm nearby, two further larger turbines scoped for Ramsdown and Borough Cross, plus the existing solar array at Kelly and the scoped array at Bradstone. If further schemes go ahead, they have the potential to turn this 4 kilometre square into a defacto power station. It is industrialisation of farmland by stealth. Combined with the existing turbine at Farm Shop Lifton and other solar arrays, unregulated RE schemes are edging their way South towards Tavistock- with the potential to ruin this important triangle as an AGLV.

Re. New Govt. advice on RE. Also note the Appeal Inspector’s comment some years ago on the Lamerton wind turbine appeals ’that this is an area of great landscape value and should be protected.’

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7) The site borders an important wildlife corridor between the Lyd Valley and the Tamar Valley, via the steep sided wooded valleys and ridges of Ramsdown. There is a danger of bird and particularly bat strike.

Re.Para 2.1 page6 and Policy SP17 para 2.39 (Local Plan) and Nat. Policy Framework P26 para 113 and para 117 bullet 2 andp.28para 119

8) The proposed turbine will never produce power to its claimed capacity. It will more likely produce only 28% of claimed load factor, in fact averaged out over the year will not supply enough reliable energy so that Beckwell will still have to rely on power from the N Grid. The visual damage to the landscape, the built environment and potential danger to wildlife far outweigh any small advantage gained in reduced carbon emissions.

9) You will note that I have not mentioned noise pollution as I understand that the proposed turbine will be belt driven and so gearbox noise would be suppressed. However, there is still the possibility of blade pressure modulation and despite ETSU-R-97 being unfit for purpose it may breach those guidelines in relation to Borough.

There is great concern amongst many residents at the slow march of these alien looking power stations, spreading across our countryside, ruining the very landscape we seek to protect.

Re.Nat.Policy Framework 2012 P.22 para 97 bullet 2

For the above reasons I urge you to reject this application.

Yours sincerely

Beckwell Farm has now formalised its application for a single wind turbine which is 24m to the hub and 34m ( 111 feet) to the blade tip.

Although this application is for a smaller turbine than the 77m turbines previously being proposed by other applicants for Ramsdown and Borough Cross it is nevertheless being proposed for the same ridge which separates the Lyd Valley going up to North Dartmoor from the area that slopes down to the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The landscape views from sections of this ridge are some of the most magnificent in the whole of the westcountry. That is why it has been designated in the past as an Area of Great Landscape Value. This ridge and the proposed location of this turbine will therefore be visible from great distances including within the iconic view from Brentor Church.

Because of the impact on this sensitive landscape MABRAKE will be officially objecting to this proposed development and would urge all our members to object as well. Objections have to be sent to West Devon Planning Office by January 10^th 2014. The objections can be sent by post or entered in the appropriate section on the West Devon web site. In either case quote the application number (01243/2013).

For an example of a detailed response please see Chris Burchell’s objection letter to WDBC and posted as a separate item on this website

We in MABRAKE understand and sympathise with the need for farmers to reduce their electricity costs and believe that in sensitive locations like this small solar arrays which can be adequately screened represent the most acceptable option. For this reason MABRAKE did not object to the solar array application at Sherrill Farm, Milton Abbot.

Dr Gary Vanstone FREng

Chairman

MABRAKE