Coronation Power has today secured planning approval for its proposed wind farms at Crook Hill, on land between Wardle and Littleborough in east Lancashire and at Reaps Moss, on farmland near Bacup, east Lancashire. Both schemes have been approved by the Secretary of State for Department of Communities & Local Government (John Denham) after an independent planning inquiry was held earlier this year.
Coronation Power is targeting to start construction of the wind farms in early 2011 and commercial operation a few months later, subject to the company obtaining DEFRA’s permission to build the two wind farms on the sites which are registered as “common land”. As part of the agreement with DEFRA, the company expects the area of common land in the vicinity of the wind farms to be increased after their construction.
Vickram Mirchandani, Managing Director of Coronation Power said: “We welcome John Denham’s decision to uphold The Planning Inspector’s recommendation to approve our two wind farm developments. The Inspector looked closely at the various aspects of our projects and concluded that Crook Hill and Reaps Moss should be permitted as they would not affect the overall landscape of the South Pennines, and were wholly compliant with local and national planning policies, most notably in relation to renewable energy and sustainable development in rural areas.”
The Planning Inquiry was prompted by Coronation Power’s decision to appeal against Rochdale Council and Calderdale Council failure to determine the company’s planning applications for a 12 turbine wind farm at Crook Hill within the specified timeframe, and Rossendale Council’s refusal of the 3 turbine wind farm at Reaps Moss.
Vickram Mirchandani added: “From the very start of our work in 2005, we have abided by the local planning policies and guidelines for both schemes. I’m disappointed that we had to pursue an appeal against the local councils but we felt from the outset that our wind farm proposals were justifiable. The schemes will generate carbon-free electricity for more than 24,000 homes in the North West, help meet the region’s renewable targets and help in reducing carbon emissions.”
Notes to Editors
• A copy of the Secretary of State’s decision is available from Coronation Power upon request. The main issues considered by the Planning Inspector and the Secretary of State included: the environmental benefit of the proposed wind farms, noise, highways and access, the effect on local water supplies and local ecology, as well as the landscape and visual impact.
• Information on both projects and Coronation Power’s other wind farm schemes in England can be found at http://www.coronationpower.com/.
• Coronation Power has four other onshore wind farm projects with a total capacity of more than 60MW at various stages of development in Cornwall, Northumberland, Devon and Lancashire.
For further information:
Vickram Mirchandani, Coronation Power
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7490 0669
Email: info@coronationpower.com