Nigel Evans has today slammed the decision to allow three wind turbines to be built in Wilpshire after Ribble Valley Borough Council’s initial decision was overturned by the Inspector on appeal.
Mr Evans said:
“I think that this is an outrageous decision. The application was rejected by the Council on legitimate grounds and the application had received 360 letters of objection to it.
“Just last month the Energy Minister, Greg Barker MP, said in reference to wind turbines that:
“We put certain projects in the wrong place……Some planners have been too insensitive to the impact on the landscape…..There’s enough wind projects in the system now so we don’t need to see any more on-shore expansion. The big area for expansion is off-shore, where there is scope for larger projects.”
“I would say that is a definitive explanation of current government thinking by the Minister. That thinking has been willfully ignored by the Inspector.
“This is an example of a complete dereliction of democracy where the views of local residents, the elected councilors and MP and the government Minister have been inexplicably ridden roughshod over.
“I will be writing to the Secretary of State to put on record how unhappy both I and the people of the Ribble Valley are with this decision.”