Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TURBINE PASSES FIRST HURDLE

The application to build industrial units and Brigg's first wind turbine (on a 25m high mast) passed the first stage of the planning process last night with flying colours.
Brigg Town Council's planning and environment committee made no reference to the proposed turbine on Europa Way (off Atherton Way) when members studied the plans.
A final decision will now be made by North Lincolnshire Council - the local planning authority.
Coun Ann Eardley expressed some reservations about possible flooding in the area of the development, but committee chairman Coun Ben Nobbs (Deputy Town Mayor) said it was planned to build up the height of land and to improve drainage. He pointed to a full flood risk assessment.
Coun Eardley replied that raising the land could still mean the water having to go somewhere else, to which Coun Nobbs said he was sure North Lincolnshire Council would take a very close look at things.
Coun Penny Smith was worried about additional traffic in the area, pointing out Brigg Primary School had been sited adjoining an industrial estate. "Traffic should be looked at and monitored," she urged.

2 comments:

Ken Harrison said...

Hooray!!!

For info - we often associate wind turbines as a type and style of an old windmill - a propellor on a stick.

Nevertheless, new technology has introduced the vane turbine (cf the turbine outside Tesco in Scunthorpe). These vanes can be sited almost at any angle - from vertical to horizontal.

It now seems more likely that these type of turbines will become the favoured type for domestic and existing building use. On the townscape, size for size, they are just as efficient, less intrusive and can cope comparatively better with variable wind speed and direction. Indeed, they can be installed on flat roofs without anyone being generally aware of their existence.

Ken Harrison said...

Folks seem so involved with new technology and potential flooding that they can fail to learn from history.
The Dutch used windmills to pump water from their dykes. The Vale of Anclome is of a similar landscape - wind turbines could be used to pump excess water directly into the North Sea.
Within the sphere of Climate Change there is an increasing danger of flooding (but it must be kept in peraspective) and there will be a need to review methods of how such a danger can be ameliorated in the future.
A natural solution is to designate areas of the Ancholme Valley as flood meadows to reduce the risk of flloding in residential areas.
But perhaps the longer-term solution will be a combination of both.