west ancroft community action 

The Great Windrush

All over the country wind farms, and proposals for yet more wind farms, are springing up like weeds. Ordinary folk who have savoured the quiet enjoyment of their surroundings suddenly find themselves in the centre of horrendous emotional and financial battles in which, as like as not, the local democratically-expressed will of the people is tossed aside in a desperate attempt to meet EU/UK renewable energy targets. If you would like to know more about the arguments raging over this situation, go to The Big Issues.

Wind farms in north Northumberland

The people of north Northumberland, just to the south of Berwick upon Tweed between Holy Island and the Cheviot Hills, have been fighting three wind farm proposals at Moorsyde, Barmoor and
Toft Hill (20 huge turbines in a beautiful, settled, lowland, farming landscape) since 2004.  The fight has been very costly both in terms of finance and emotions, but the outcome of a long public inquiry in May/June 2009 has been that the appeals for Moorsyde and Toft Hill have been refused; but the appeal for Barmoor has been upheld.   

And now there’s
a fourth: Energy giant E.ON have applied to build 8 turbines, each 377 ft high (115m), at West Ancroft.  And there are more in the pipeline too.

 

West Ancroft Wind Farm

E.ON proposes to construct eight 115m turbines on land between Ancroft, Bowsden and Duddo, about 5 miles south of Berwick upon Tweed, on land which looks out to Holy Island (6 miles away), the Farne Islands, and the Northumberland coast.  The magnificent backdrop of the Northumberland National Park (Cheviot Hills) is to the south.

The houses closest to the proposed turbines are only just over 600 yards away from them.

Implications of rejection of Moorsyde scheme

The Inspector concluded that 'harms of the Moorsyde scheme outweigh the benefits.  This is principally because of the substantial weight I give to the serious harm that would be caused to principal views of the Cheviots'.

Since the Moorsyde and West Ancroft sites are separated by only a fence, these conclusions are likely to apply just as much to the latter scheme.  Moreover, the other negative effects of the scheme which she highlighted ('major adverse effect on the landscape'; visual amenities of nearby residents 'materially harmed'; noise limits 'would be breached' and 'turbines might need to have their power capped' to protect nearby residents from noise) would inevitably apply equally (and possibly to a greater degree) to the West Ancroft application.

The proposed West Ancroft turbines are enormous...

scale of west ancroft turbines

index sitemap advanced
search engine by freefind

Latest News

Wind Farm Update Meeting
Thursday 25 March

A very encouraging meeting was held in Ancroft Memorial Hall on Thursday 25th March to review the current wind farm situation in north Northumberland.  See the report of the meeting, which also incorporated WACA's AGM.

 E.on accused of misleading Councillors at Site Visit

Councillors of the Northumberland County Council Planning Committee, who will determine the West Ancroft Application, visited the site on 16th December.  WACA has accused E.on of misleading the Councillors by placing the straw bale marking the turbine closest (556m) to nearby residential properties in the incorrect position - approx 200m away from its correct position and about 100m further away from the properties than on the site plan.  Moreover, the relevant photomontage for the view from these properties has been shown to have serious flaws: 4 out of the 8 turbines are incorrectly positioned (one by as much as 250m) and 3 of them are IN THE WRONG FIELD!  In the light of these and other errors in their application, and of the implications of the Inspector's conclusions on the Moorsyde scheme, WACA has submitted that E.on should withdraw their application.

West Ancroft Wind Farm Application

E.ON's application has been submitted and registered (reference number:09/00063/CCMEIA) with Northumberland County Council.  For the latest information on this application please see the WACA Newsletter.  It is likely that this application will be determined in 'late summer' 2010.

ASA Uphold Complaint against E.ON

ASA on 29th July upheld two of three complaints against E.ON relating to their publicity about the West Ancroft site.  For more details see the latest newsletter.

 

West Ancroft Wind Farm Online Petition

Please click here to ask members of the Council Central Planning Committee to reject this application.


WACA: West Ancroft Community Action

WACA was set up at a public meeting in Ancroft Memorial Hall on 27 November, 2008.

WACA aims to represent the views of the local people of north Northumberland and the nearby Scottish Borders in responding to the West Ancroft Wind Farm proposal. 

It
is especially important to create a ‘voice’ for local residents because this is a time of major change in the local government system: Berwick upon Tweed Borough Council, along with the other borough councils in Northumberland, ceased to exist on 31 March 2009 and was replaced by a new unitary authority - Northumberland County Council.  The Councillors, who will determine this application, come from all over the county and live very far from Berwick.


Membership of WACA costs £10 per household per year. To join WACA, or to make a donation,
click here.

Keeping in touch.  If you do not wish to become a member but would like us to send you updates by email, click here.


Further information can be found in News.

To download a map of the proposed West Ancroft site click here. NB. Adobe Reader (free) is needed to read this file....

get adobe reader