Turbines go-ahead a 'disgrace and sham'
Blackpool Today |Frances Bickerdike|August 17, 2006
A STORM of protest has been whipped up over two giant rooftop wind turbines – just metres from homes and hotels. But the turbines – which have won approval in the corridors of power – will be as close as 20m to some properties, the closest wind turbines have ever been to houses in the UK.
A STORM of protest has been whipped up over two giant rooftop wind turbines – just metres from homes and hotels. But the turbines – which have won approval in the corridors of power – will be as close as 20m to some properties, the closest wind turbines have ever been to houses in the UK.
Planners approved the controversial scheme at the new £2.5m Enterprise Centre – the former Lido building – despite a barrage of complaints.
And today, an army of angry protesters said: "We will fight this."
Brian Rice runs the 11-bedroom Fortuna House hotel on Rawcliffe Street.
He said: "I am next door but one to the building and it could be devastating for my business.
"Who is going to want to book into a hotel next door to massive turbines? My guests aren't going to want to sit out at the front of the hotel with those whirling round on top of them making a noise.
"There was massive opposition but that has been totally ignored.
"I have been here since June. The original plans for the site said it would be a conference centre …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Planners approved the controversial scheme at the new £2.5m Enterprise Centre – the former Lido building – despite a barrage of complaints.
And today, an army of angry protesters said: "We will fight this."
Brian Rice runs the 11-bedroom Fortuna House hotel on Rawcliffe Street.
He said: "I am next door but one to the building and it could be devastating for my business.
"Who is going to want to book into a hotel next door to massive turbines? My guests aren't going to want to sit out at the front of the hotel with those whirling round on top of them making a noise.
"There was massive opposition but that has been totally ignored.
"I have been here since June. The original plans for the site said it would be a conference centre and car park, the turbines weren't added until later. I think it is a disgrace and a sham."
Ray Dagwell, who owns the Linton Hotel, also on Rawcliffe Street, added: "The possibility of appealing is being considered.
"It was a council planning application, made by the council and determined by the council. The residents feel the process was a farce."
Before Monday's planning meeting a 25-name petition, including people living in Clarence Court on Rawcliffe Street and Mabel Court on Lytham Road, was submitted along with objections from Fortuna House, Linton Hotel, a dental surgery on Lytham Road and the Blackpool Hotel and Guesthouse Association.
They opposed the development on grounds of noise, appearance and scale.
Labour tipped the vote to approve the plans, which will see 6.6-metre-high turbines spinning on the roof of the £2.5m Enterprise Centre currently under construction on the old Lido swimming pool site.
The proposal, submitted by Blackpool Council, was also for two solar panels, a geothermal heat pump and a rain water harvesting system to be housed under the building.
It is the second time the development has come in for criticism after neighbours on nearby Hill Street complained building work was damaging homes.
They said vibrations from bulldozers was causing structural damage to their homes.
Coun Ian Fowler added: "Travelling over the bridge on Lytham Road towards South Shore they will give the impression of being the size of Blackpool Tower and will overshadow everything."
Tory councillor Peter Evans moved a vote to go against officers' recommendations by rejecting the application saying they were not in the right place.
And Coun Jim Houldsworth added: "It is important to consider the concerns of people who run businesses and who believe people will not want to stay so close to wind turbines."
Officers told the councillors that turbines like the ones in the application would soon become a part of the urban landscape and could in the future even become exempt from requiring planning permission much in the same way as mobile phone masts and base stations.