Broadview

< Back to all project news 05 Mar 2010 - Spring Farm Ridge Broadview meets local residents to outline wind farm plan

This week (Tuesday, March 2nd), Broadview Energy Limited hosted a public exhibition about its plans for a small wind farm of up to six turbines on land approximately ten miles east of Banbury, near the B4525 between the villages of Greatworth and Helmdon. The exhibition was held at the village hall in Marston St Lawrence and was attended by around 160 people including a number of parish councillors.

The exhibition was the first opportunity for members of the local community to meet and question the Broadview Energy team about its plans for a wind farm on the site known as Spring Farm Ridge.

Olly Buck, Project Manager of Broadview Energy, said: “We wanted to share our plans with local people at an early stage in the project. There is a large amount of work still be to be done by Broadview to evaluate the suitability of Spring Farm Ridge as a wind farm location and we used yesterday’s exhibition to explain the various steps that we will be taking over the next 3-6 months. We also explained the importance of onshore wind power and the positive contribution that the wind farm could make to the country's energy mix.”

In parallel with the technical and environmental studies that are being carried out over the next few months, the Broadview Energy team will continue to consult on its plans with local people, South Northamptonshire District Council and the parish councils as well as organisations such as Natural England and the Environment Agency. Last month, the company wrote to over 7,500 households in the area about the project and a newsletter with more information on the scheme was made available, the consultation and copies can be viewed on the dedicated website (www.springfarmridge.co.uk) which was recently launched. As part of the ongoing consultation, the company will be hosting a visit for local people to an operational wind farm at Burton Wold, near Kettering, Northamptonshire in late April or early May.

Olly Buck of Broadview Energy added: “Public consultation is an important part of the development and planning process for any wind farm, so we will endeavour to keep people fully informed of the results of our work. If we do proceed with the scheme, we will host another exhibition before a planning application is submitted to South Northamptonshire Council. It is at that stage that we will be able to confirm the number, height and precise location of the turbines.”

Subject to the development and planning processes, the wind farm at Spring Farm Ridge could enter operation in late 2011 or early 2012.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Paul Taylor at Taylor Keogh Communications (paul@taylorkeogh.com / 020 3170 8466) Lisa Ross at Broadview Energy Limited (lross@broadviewenergy.com / 020 8487 9150) 

 

Notes to editors:

• Broadview Energy Limited (www.broadviewenergy.com) develops wind energy projects in the United Kingdom that generate clean and sustainable energy. Broadview takes projects from site identification, through the planning process, to construction and ultimately operation. The company focuses on small projects, typically between two and ten turbines. It currently has a number of projects under various stages of development, and operation throughout the United Kingdom.
• The Government published its Renewable Energy Strategy in July 2009 and has set a revised target of 30% of all the electricity produced in the UK to be from renewable sources by 2020; currently the figures sit at approximately 5%.