Wind turbine goes ahead despite objections from residents

Rochdale Council has given permission for a wind turbine at a farm at Ripponden Road near Denshaw on the Rochdale/Saddleworth border despite objections from local residents.

Residents in the area are angry after Rochdale Council agreed to the wind turbine and are now concerned that their properties are under threat of "blight" from wind turbines.

The turbine which reaches 113ft has been built in the greenbelt near Rooden Reservoir and the Pennine Bridleway.

A number of comments posted on the Rochdale Council website regarding the proposals described wind turbines as “noisy” and “unslightly.”

Darren Grafton said: “They are unsightly, noisy and would blight the natural beauty of a rural farming community.”

Denis Crawler added: “Unsightly with noise disturbance. Would take away all the natural beauty of the landscape and surroundings. I object.”

Lynda Stefek added: “I wish to object to the proposed development on the grounds of noise nuisance likely to be caused by the installation and that a noise impact assessment has not been undertaken. Denshaw is a quiet village and has low background noise levels. The noise report submitted with the application relates to a similar installation in Devon, the noise results obtained have not been used to determine the noise impact it will have on Denshaw, especially low frequency noise. Low frequency noise can be heard at great distances and noise from this proposed development is likely to be heard in the village and inside houses.”

Mark Widdup, Director of Economy and Environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The planning application for the wind turbine at Bent Heath Farm was submitted to the Council in September 2014. Residents of both Rochdale and Oldham boroughs were consulted by the Planning Service on the proposals, as was Oldham Council.

“The application was approved by members of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee in March 2014 following full consideration and the opportunity was given to objectors to express their views at the meeting.

“The views of objectors were taken into account, particularly as the application had been deferred from a previous meeting for further information to be submitted on noise impacts. However, members considered the development to be acceptable and granted planning permission.”