Wind power projects near Stanhoe
Three wind power projects have been proposed around Stanhoe: Jack’s Lane (Stanhoe and Barwick), Chiplow (Syderstone), and Fring (Docking).
From the end of January 2012 a month-long planning inquiry covering both Jack’s Lane and Chiplow is taking place in King’s Lynn. See the news section below for the latest developments, and check our calendar for more details of the public inquiry.
Recent Stanhoe
wind farm news
See also the Jack’s Lane website and the meeting minutes on the Community Liaison Group page.
Wind decision this month [May 2012]
28 May is the new forecast date for the wind farms planning appeal decision.
If not here, then nowhere [Feb 2012]
Chiplow and Jack’s Lane are a test case for lowland wind turbines, lawyers argue.
Bellingham: “doing our bit” [Feb 2012]
Henry Bellingham MP adds his voice to the wind turbine debate.
Rare birds [Feb 2012]
Montagu’s Harrier and Stone Curlews could suffer, wind farm inquiry hears.
A mother speaks [Feb 2012]
Lynn News looks at both sides of wind power.
▼ See all wind farm news items…
Jack’s Lane
The Jack’s Lane wind farm being planned by Renewable Energy Systems Ltd (RES) currently involves six turbines of 2.3MW each, giving a total installed capacity of 13.8MW.
image: RES, with Ordnance Survey permission
The proposed turbine layout: click on the map to see the full-size map on the project’s own website
The site is on farmland owned by Barwick Hall Farm. It lies between Stanhoe, Shammer, North Creake, South Creake and Syderstone, the closest village being Stanhoe.
photomontage: RES. For illustrative purposes only
How the turbines would look from Barwick Road. Click on the image for a panoramic view, or click here for a version that you can view at full size
The wind farm’s own website carries detailed information about the project
In summary:
- The Jack’s Lane turbines are likely to be Siemens 2.3MW machines with a hub height of 80m and a blade length of 45m, giving a total maximum height to the blade tips of 126m.
- The closest turbine to Stanhoe will be 2km from the Bircham road.
- Consent would be for 25 years, after which the turbines would have to be demolished or refurbished. The concrete turbine foundations would be removed to a depth of at least one metre.
- At the start of the project, RES would be obliged to deposit a bond large enough to pay for the turbines to be demolished.
- The construction phase would take around a year.
- Large loads would enter and leave the site from the south, via Hyde Park on the B1454 and Barwick Road, which would be widened. Lorry traffic would not pass through Stanhoe.
- Power would be exported by underground cable, not overhead lines.
- RES would make a “community fund” available to the villages surrounding the development. This would be £2,000 per installed megawatt per year, making a total of £27,600 per year.
Opposition groups
Creakes Action for Protecting the Environment (CAPE) is the main opposition group for the Jack’s Lane project.
The Norfolk Wind Turbines website, set up in May 2010, opposes onshore wind throughout Norfolk. As of April 2011, the Norfolk Wind Turbines news page offers the most up-to-date news from the protesters.
The South Creake website also provides news about Jack’s Lane.
Chiplow
The Chiplow project is proposed by E.ON UK for the area between Bagthorpe, Barmer and Syderstone. It involves five 2-MW wind turbines.
The Chiplow page on E.ON’s website carries more details, including links to two information sheets the company has published. The project is opposed by a group named ATAC based at Syderstone.
See the news section at the top of this page for the current planning status of the Chiplow project.
Fring
West Coast Energy has a plan to put up seven 2-MW turbines south of Docking. The proposal is known as Fring Wind Farm, though it is as close to Stanhoe as it is to Fring, and Docking is the nearest settlement.
On 16 February 2010 planning permission for an anemometer mast was granted on appeal. The mast would have to be erected within three years, and would be allowed to remain in place for a further three years.
Docking has a protest campaign called Stop Turbines Ruining Our Lovely Landscape (STROLL).