Published: February 7, 2007
Burnham-On-Sea town council to jointly fight wind farm fight

Burnham-On-Sea Town Councillors this week voted to go ahead with a joint bid with Brent Knoll Parish Council to fight plans for five wind turbines on the outskirts of the town.

Burnham-On-Sea.com first reported last month how the Town Council was investigating linking up with Brent Knoll Parish Council to pool together its resources to jointly fight Ecotricity's appeal against last summer's decision to reject its bid to build the controversial wind farm, pictured above.

At a council meeting on Monday (February 5th), several councillors questioned whether the two councils should each be spending £2,000 on hiring a planning consultant and legal respresentative to act on behalf of the groups.

"Should we really be spending money on this," asked Cllr Dennis Davey, "particularly when the Knoll To Wind Farm group have already said they are fighting the campaign."

And Deputy Mayor Cllr David Parry added: "Do we have a realistic chance of winning?"

But Cllr Peter Clayton voiced his support of the proposed joint approach, saying: "To drop out now, so late in the process, would not put us in a good light."

"The proposed wind farm would affect many people on the outskirts of Burnham, not just in Brent Knoll."

Councillors voted in favour of going ahead with the joint funding, with only Cllr Chris Williams voting against.

It comes after the Knoll To Wind Farm group launched a £30,000 fundraising campaign to fight Ecotricity's appeal. We revealed in December that Ecotricity, the developer behind the scheme, had submitted its appeal.