Please note that this archived page was last updated
in July 2006 and reflects the status of the project at that
time.
Planning permission issued
On 6 July 2006, after two and a half year's work, the planning
permission for the proposed wind farm development at Parham
airfield was finally issued.
The chairman and vice-chairman of Suffolk Coastal's Development
Control Committee, Councillors Ivan Jowers and Gordon Laing,
confirmed, having first carefully scrutinised the wording of the
permission and the S106 Agreement, that they meet the requirements
of the Committee following their meetings on 5 October 2005 and 29
March 2006. Follow the links below to see the documents:
Planning permission issued on 6 July 2006
(new window PDF 22KB)
S106 Agreement dated 28 June 2006 (new window
PDF 1050KB)
More information about this application can be found on our
online planning register
- application number C/05/0400 (new
window).
Conditional approval given
Conditional go-ahead was given to plans by PAWF Ltd (a
local subsidiary company set up by Saxon Windpower) to build
six 100 metre high wind turbines at the former Parham Airfield at
the Development Control Committee meeting on 5 October
2005 held at the Riverside Centre at Stratford St Andrew in
front of a 200-strong audience.
While accepting that there will inevitably be visual and
environmental impacts on the local community, the committee
believed after five hours of lengthy and detailed discussions that
there were not enough reasons under Government planning rules to
reject the application.
National planning guidance makes it clear that this district
should be playing its part in encouraging more renewable energy
schemes. This application makes a small but still significant
impact on that national need for alternative sources of energy on a
site which has been identified as one of the most appropriate in
the county.
While the weight of the Government’s planning advice gave little
alternative to the Committee other than to approve the application,
a large number of conditions are being imposed by the
Committee on the developers that they will have to meet if
they want to proceed with the development. The aim of the
conditions is to minimise as much as possible the impact of the
development on the local area. Follow this link to
view the conditions being imposed (new window
Word document 35KB).
The Chairman of the Committee, Cllr Ivan Jowers, thanks all
those who had taken part in the discussions on the wind farm
application that attracted over 700 responses.
The application site is on part of a 310 hectare farm in the
parishes of Parham, Great Glemham and Marlesford. PAWF say that the
wind farm would generate enough energy to meet the average needs of
4,047 homes, without producing the emissions that are blamed for
global warming.
Consultation
Suffolk Coastal consulted with the public and various
organisations and encouraged the debate by setting aside a special
section on its website, as well as having an exhibition in its
reception. Over 700 comments were received from members
of the public, with views split evenly between those for and
against, although with a strong majority against from those living
locally.
In April 2005, planning officers held a special briefing for 50
councillors from the surrounding parishes at the Stratford St
Andrew Riverside Centre. It was a successful evening that enabled
the officers to explain the process that was to be undertaken in
assessing the application and the likely timescales.
A large amount of technical information was supplied by both the
applicants and those responding to the plans, which our planning
officers studied in detail. We also sought specialist reports from
experts to assess the environmental and noise implications of the
proposals. The Development Control Committee visited the site of
the application and its surrounding area during September
2005 and Swaffham’s wind turbines in Norfolk.
Supporting information
This was a very detailed application with a lot of supporting
information. We have put the non-technical summary and some
additional supporting information on this website which you can
download by following the links below:
Planning appraisal document (new window PDF
608KB) - submitted by Saxon Windpower Ltd in support of
their application. This is a 68 page report which summarises the
case for the application.
Environmental assessment report (new window PDF
312KB) - submitted by Saxon Windpower Ltd in support of
their application.
Wind turbine diagram (new window PDF 108KB)
- showing what one of the wind turbines would look like
according to Saxon Windpower Ltd.
Artist's impressions - of how the proposed
windfarm would look from a variety of locations according to Saxon
Windpower Ltd.
Proposed site layout (new window PDF 807KB)
- according to the plans submitted by Saxon Windpower
Ltd.
Follow
this link for help downloading and opening PDF
files.