Consultation on proposed Rooley Moor wind farm

Consultation on proposed Rooley Moor wind farm

Coronation Power held their fourth public consultation event this morning (Saturday 1 March) with around 400 people going along to express their feelings towards the proposed wind farm.

The consultation, which was held at Spotland Social Club, gave members of the public the chance to hear and see information regarding the wind farm and to give their feedback to the team from Coronation Power.

A spokesperson from Coronation Power said: "We have had quite a lot of reaction to these consultations. There has been a steady stream of people through the door."

Coronation Power is proposing to build the wind farm at Rooley Moor, 5kms north of Rochdale.

Feedback gathered from the consultations will be discussed and considered before planning applications are submitted.

Wendy Noakley, who attended the consultation, said: "I think it is a bad idea. I don't think they should go ahead with it."

Nicky MacGill is strongly against the plans and added: "I am against the plans and I don't think we need it. Rochdale is always getting a bad press and this is just going to damage the countryside if it goes ahead."

Nigel Morrell said: "It is going to have an unprecedented impact on the natural environment. Any proposal that goes ahead needs to take the natural environment into account and I don't think that this does. There are also bridle ways and paths in that area which will go unused if this goes ahead."

Councillors Cecile Biant, Surinder Biant and Peter Winkler also attended the consultation to speak to those in attendance.

If approved and built, Coronation Power has said that there will be a number of community benefits. Information at the consultation stated these would include financial support for local groups and projects, energy efficiency scheme and environmental education programmes.

A scoping request about the proposed project was submitted to Rochdale and Rossendale Councils in June 2012 and a met mast application was approved by Rochdale Township Planning Sub-Committee in October 2012 and installed in February 2014.

The wind farm would consist of 17 turbines which will be capable of providing enough electricity to meet the domestic energy needs of around 21,500 homes. Each turbine will produce up to 2.5 MW of power, giving the site a potential total output of up to 42.5 MW. A detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) is being undertaken as part of the project development process and will be an integral part of the planning application that will be submitted to Rochdale Council and Rossendale Council.

The site is owned by Andrew Scott (Lord of the Manor of Rochdale) who has been paid a nominal sum for Coronation to have an exclusive option agreement on the land.

Once the wind farm enters commercial operation, Mr Scott will be paid an annual land rental fee which will be a percentage of the total revenue generated by the wind farm on the land. This figure has been agreed and is based on industry standard fees.

If plans do go ahead, the wind farm could be built and in operation by Autumn 2016.