Public inquiry was a farce (From Warrington Guardian)

Public inquiry was a farce

12:56pm Thursday 24th May 2012 in Letters

COPY of a letter to Councillor Kevin Bennett:

I write to express my strong support to both you and Chris Vobe, candidate for Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft, for objecting to the 2011 Mayor party (Warrington Guardian, January 12).

My reasons are simple and not political.

Despite being made redundant from the nuclear industry along with thousands of others in the Warrington area in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I have spent the past five years unpaid role as part of the ‘big society’ developing a domestic wind turbine.

However, I have experienced great difficulties for more than three years with planning matters.

The main problem has been Manchester Airport claiming that, at 15 metres overall height, the wind turbine blade tips could cause interference with their ground control radar even though the site is 10 miles away and almost 40 degrees off the flight paths.

A public inquiry into this lasted slightly over an hour, followed by a half-hour site visit, but costs of £2,781 were awarded against me.

This is almost exactly the amount spent on the hot buffet for the mayoral celebrations in May 2011, £2,760. The amount is approximately three times my monthly NNC pension after tax.

Moreover, I have recently established that in America one can erect a wind turbine up to 200 feet high, provided that it is not sited within two to four miles of a ‘public use’ or military airport.

I intend to see councillor Ian Marks to endeavour to resolve this ridiculous situation.

DR MICHAEL MADDEN Appleton