Wind farm developer Broadview Energy is inviting residents in the Burnham-On-Sea area to see at first-hand one of its existing wind farms in operation.
The company behind the controversial plans to develop the proposed Pilrow wind farm at Rooksbridge, on the outskirts of Burnham, is offering to take residents on a trip to a wind farm in Leicestershire on Saturday 4th February.
Residents living around the site of the Rooksbridge wind farm are this week receiving invitations plus 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 being driven to the Low Spinney wind farm, near Gilmorton in Leicestershire.
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,” the firm’s Tom Cosgrove, Project Manager at Broadview Energy, told Burnham-On-Sea.com this week.
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.
Mr Cosgrove added: “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 Burnham area.
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 on Burnham-On-Sea.com.
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, on 020 7268 9910 or by email pilrow@broadviewenergy.com
