A CONTROVERSIAL wind turbine application near Shebbear has been rejected by Torridge District Council.

Plans for a 102 metre turbine at Alscott Farm were turned down by the council's planning committee on January 17. Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the application by Dorset-based developer Infinergy, which would have been the area's tallest turbine. Local residents filed several letters of objection to the council over the turbine proposal.

The committee voted against the 500kw turbine on the grounds of its impact on the environment, and visual impact. There had been a recommendation for approval of the turbine. Plans for three 100 metre turbines at Dunsland Cross were also rejected.

Penny Mills, chair of the Torridge group of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, said: 'We are absolutely delighted with both these decisions today.

'The CPRE had objected to both applications because they were totally inappropriate. 

'In the case of the 102 metre 500kw turbine at Alscott, Shebbear, the sheer enormous physical size of this turbine was out of all proportion with the amount of power it would generate.

'There was no justification for a height of such magnitude, which would have huge impacts over such a wide unspoilt area, unnecessarily. That was what the Torridge District Council Plans Committee agreed today. 

'The turbine was far too large. The small benefit did not outweigh the adverse impact on the landscape and unspoilt countryside.'