Current Progress
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The public planning inquiry is now underway for the complete 8 turbine site which sits within the districts of South Cambridgeshire and Uttlesford. The inquiry is due to hear evidence on issues with landscape, cultural heritage, ecology, the impact of local residents, recreation and public rights of way, aviation safety, and benefits of the scheme. It will be held at Abington Hall Conference Centre in weeks 1 and 4, South Cambridgeshire Hall during week 2 and Linton Village Hall for week 3, commencing at 10am on Tuesdays of all weeks. There will be opportunity for the public to speak. Please contact our office for further details and timings as they are confirmed during the inquiry.
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Subsequent to the status of the planning applications determined by the local District Councils, Enertrag UK are appealing the decisions. The case is with the Planning Inspectorate and dates are being agreed between Enertrag and the Local Authorities for an appeal to run next year.
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At the Development Control Committee meeting on 23rd June 2009 Uttlesford District Council refused permission for one turbine as part of the 8 turbine layout proposed at Linton. South Cambridgeshire District Council failed to determine the application for the remaining 7 turbines within the required 16 week period.
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A planning application has now been submitted to both South Cambridgeshire District Council (Ref: S/0232/09/F) and Uttlesford District Council (UTT/0232/09/FUL). For details of who to write to regarding this application please see the 'Latest News' pages. The non-technical summary is available to download from this page.
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Surveys are underway as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment, these include background noise surveys, ecology and archaeological field surveys.
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A scoping opinion has been recieved from South Cambridgeshire District Council and Uttlesford District Council regarding the proposal.
Appeal
The appeal procedure, like planning applications, is a long process. An appeal on the planning outcomes for the Linton project has been lodged; this is based on Uttlesford District Council’s refusal of the planning application and South Cambridgeshire District Council failing to give notice within the appropriate period. Timescales, dates and meetings for the appeal have to be agreed with the Councils, and case evidence prepared for submission prior to the inquiry. More information on the appeals process is available at www.planningportal.gov.uk.
Planning Application
Linton wind farm is a split boundary case, meaning the site lies within two districts; South Cambridgeshire and Uttlesford. A planning application was submitted to each District Council for independent consideration. The Planning Application encompasses a number of documents that have been compiled over the extensive project planning and Environmental Impact Assessment period. Thorough studies into a number of environmental factors have been carried out, the findings of which are summarised in the Environmental Statement (ES) which accompanies the Application. Also there are a number of drawings and supplementary reports provided with the Planning Application. These are available for public viewing from the Council offices, or an electronic copy of the complete ES can be requested by contacting Enertrag UK. Alternatively a summary of the project assessments can be downloaded from this page through the ‘Non Technical Summary’ link.
Scoping Request
Enertrag have submitted a scoping request for an Environmental Impact Assessment to construct a wind farm near Linton, Cambridgeshire.
A Scoping Request is an opinion provided by the Council (County, District or Unitary) that indicates what impacts and issues an Environmental Impact Assessment of a proposed development should address.
The proposed wind farm on land to the SW of the village of Linton would comprise of eight turbines having a maximum output of 3MW. The proposed site layout is shown below. The turbines would generate electricity that would be fed into the national grid via underground cables. Vehicle access routes will be provided between the turbines for construction and maintenance; these will follow current tracks and field boundaries where possible.
Each turbine will be a maximum of 85m high to the hub and the rotors will be a maximum of 90m diameter. The diameter of the tower at the base will be approximately 4m. The final arrangement for the foundations will be confirmed once the turbine manufacture is determined. The land around the turbine will be flat as the foundation will be buried. Once construction is complete, the land could continue to be famed right up to the turbine tower.
The planning application will describe the turbines in a generic form. The reason for this is that technology is constantly moving forward and at the time of placing the contract for the turbines Enertrag would want to take advantage of the turbine that best suits the site.
A copy of the Information and Consultation document regarding the proposed wind farm at Linton is available for download at the top of the page and also here.
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