More on wind farm

The Chronicle Comment in this week's issue of the Nantwich Chronicle has some wise words. It says:

“Residents at Audlem and surrounding parishes are celebrating after a long hard victory against plans for a huge wind farm at Woore were thrown out on appeal.

So while campaigners can rest easy for now, they should be prepared for possible further fighting at a time when the Government is stressing the need for cheaper, renewable sources of energy.”

OpinionAudlem Online wonders what's happening about costs. In a legal action, the losers often have to fund the costs of the winning party. In this case, residents of North Shropshire and surrounding areas have helped the pressure group Vortex raise funds to cover costs that are said to be over £80,000. Hopefully, Nuon (UK) Ltd will have to pay to cover these costs – if not, why not?

Nuon came to the area, unasked, and proposed a wind farm. The vast majority of the 600 residents attending the planning meeting didn't want it; the democratically elected planning committee of the local council rejected it; the Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Climate Change says the area isn't suitable – yet Nuon (UK) Ltd could yet come back again with a request for a judicial review of the decision.

A big company obviously has more money at its disposal than local residents. So far, Vortex and the opponents of the wind farm have fought a brilliant battle. If Nuon do take the case further, clearly they have little regard for local democracy or the decision of a Government-appointed inspector who heard four weeks of detailed evidence.

It will seem to many simply to be the case that they can afford to keep fighting, hoping their opponents, the people who live in the area, will run out of money.

So, who should foot the bill?

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