A long-running battle with campaigners over the building of a wind turbine could cost a Nottinghamshire council a staggering £80,000 in legal fees. The 66m (217ft) structure between Woodborough and Calverton in Nottinghamshire was erected after Gedling Borough Council approved it in 2011. The council took into account all considerations including complaints about the visual impact of the turbine. A judicial review upheld that decision and that should have been the end of it. But no.
Anti-turbine campaigners have now won a Court of Appeal battle to have that judicial review decision quashed. More than 1,000 people objected to the structure on the basis of its visual impact.
Landowner and farmer John Charles-Jones wanted the turbine on his land (which sits in a green belt area). He said he will continue talks with the council.
Now this is where it gets silly. One turbine in one field in a green belt (which essentially means you can’t build housing there) which is owned by a farmer who wants to encourage renewable energy, has resulted in no less than six court cases, after the council had approved the planning application.
So what was the basis of the Court of Appeal decision? Only that there had been “some discrepancies” in the council planning committee’s original decision. They have to reconsider their decision.
Last week the Court of Appeal ruled there had been some discrepancies in the council planning committee’s original decision-making and they should now reconsider it. A second planning application has been submitted and the council will consider that.
Protesters claim that the Court of Appeal decision is a “landmark ruling” but while the re-application is being considered there is no question of the turbine being dismantled- it stays where it is.
A council spokesman accepts that the court process can be used to challenge decisions. The council decide not to got to the House of Lords to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision as that would have cost even more money.
If the wind turbine has to be taken down if the latest planning application is not granted, the cost would fall on the landowner.
This case is being touted as a test case for turbines being raised on green belt land, but other commentators do not see a precedent having been established by the Court of Appeal.
