Broadview

< Back to all news articles 16 Jan 2012 - Pilrow Broadview Energy invites residents on trip to working wind farm

Broadview Energy is inviting residents of the area surrounding the proposed Pilrow wind farm to visit a comparable development, so that they can get first-hand experience of a wind farm in operation.

The trip will take place on Saturday 4th February 2012 and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Local residents will this week be receiving invitations and further information in the post, including details of how to register for the trip. Those attending will be picked up by coach from the villages of Rooksbridge, East Brent and Mark between 9.30am and 10.00am before driving to the Low Spinney wind farm, near Gilmorton, Leicestershire.  Lunch will be provided and the group is due to return by 6.30pm.

Low Spinney is Broadview’s second operational site which began exporting green power in September 2011. It consists of four, 125 metre tall wind turbines and is located on agricultural land adjacent to the M1 motorway. This is very similar to the proposed Pilrow wind farm which, if approved, will also have four turbines, 130 metres in height, on agricultural land adjacent to the M5.

Final designs for the Pilrow site were announced earlier this month, reducing the number of turbines from the originally proposed six to four, and reducing their height from 140 to 130 metres.

Residents on the trip will also have the opportunity to talk to the Gilmorton parish clerk who has experienced the entire development process from project inception, right through planning and construction, and lives near the now operational Low Spinney wind farm.

Tom Cosgrove, Project Manager at Broadview Energy said: “We hope that as many people as possible will sign up to join us on the 4th February. I know it’s quite a distance to travel but we wanted to give people the opportunity to witness a similar wind farm operating in a similar environment, and talk to someone living nearby.”

“Involving the local community is extremely important to us. There are a very broad range of opinions about the proposed turbines at Pilrow and many people have yet to decide how they feel about the plans. We hope that seeing a working wind farm of a comparable size will be a useful contribution to the debate.”

The Pilrow wind farm is expected to generate enough electricity to meet the average annual demands of 5,300 households in the area and, in doing so, will make a valuable contribution towards increasing the UK’s energy security and reducing our growing reliance on fossil fuel imports from volatile regions of the world.

Broadview Energy will also be holding a series of exhibitions in February to enable residents to view the plans in more detail.

Details of these events will be available shortly via the project website www.pilrowwindfarm.com, the Support Pilrow Wind Farm Facebook page, and through invitations to local residents.

Detailed studies into the potential environmental impacts of the proposed wind farm are ongoing and the findings will be included in Broadview’s planning application to Sedgemoor District Council, which the company hopes to submit in the coming weeks.

Bookings for the wind farm trip can be made by contacting Lisa Ross, Community Relations Manager:  020 7268 9910 email: pilrow@broadviewenergy.com

Notes to editors:

1. Broadview Energy Limited www.broadviewenergy.com develops wind energy projects in the United Kingdom that will generate clean, sustainable energy. Broadview takes projects from site identification, through the planning process, to construction and ultimately operation. The company has two operational wind farms: Hill of Fiddes in Aberdeenshire and Low Spinney in Leicestershire. Broadview has a number of other projects at various stages of the development process throughout the United Kingdom.

2. More information on the Pilrow wind farm can be obtained via the dedicated project web pages: www.pilrowwindfarm.com.
 
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Kierstan Lowe at Spirit Public Relations klowe@spiritpublicrelations.co.uk / 0117 944 1415.