100% VOTE NO!

Middleton Burn Action Group (MBAG)  held an open public meeting at the Bell View Centre, Belford, on 23 November which was addressed by Jens Rasmussen for Air Farmers and by Andrew Joicey for opponants of the scheme.

After hearing the presentations, a ballot was held asking people to vote on whether they supported, opposed or had no opinion on the proposal. Of some 80 people at the meeting 70 voted, ALL were against. NONE supported the proposal.All ballot papers were signed and had valid addresses.

 ’MIDDLETON BURN’

In September, two suspicious characters were spotted taking photographs on a farm near Belford, North Northumberland. They were evasive when challenged but it was soon discovered that they were working for a wind development company that is planning a massive wind farm on neighbouring land.

Middleton Burn sitemap, copyright Air Farmers Ltd.

Air Farmers Ltd  propose building sixteen 125 metre (410 ft) turbines at Swinhoe Farm. The site, in a prominent position between Holburn and Belford, covers an area that is over 3 km (2 miles) in length and up to 1.5 km wide.

When the size and location of the project became apparent it was obvious that the people of Northumberland needed to be alerted to the threat that the scheme poses to OUR tourist landscapes and OUR businesses.

There is a temptation to feel powerless in the face of apparently well-organised London ‘suits’ and their consultants.  It should be underlined that Air Farmers Ltd have only been in existence since 2008 and have yet to get planning permission for, never mind construct, a single turbine.

Whereas here, in North Northumberland, there are now a considerable number of individuals and communities with expertise and a wealth of experience gained from 7 years of fighting off speculative wind developers trying to impose inappropriate developments on unwilling communities.

WE ARE NOT ALONE

By standing together, local communities have now defeated 3 inappropriate planning applications in the former Berwick Borough area (Moorsyde, Toft Hill and West Ancroft).

The latter two were proposed by German-owned energy conglomerates RWE npower and E.ON, companies with huge resources and experience of the wind business. With your help we are confident that we can defeat Air Farmer’s ill-judged venture.