HEMPNALL PARISH COUNCIL 
Newsletter
– Autumn 2006
Hempnall
is facing the prospect of some large scale developments. The Parish Council has
therefore decided to circulate a copy of its newsletter
to all residents. which is
usually available only on the internet at www.hempnallpc.org
or the parish council notice board and in Hempnall Stores.
PROPOSED
WIND FARM
Thank
you to all members of the
public who attended a recent meeting on the issue of wind turbines. The
unprecedented turnout of about 10 per cent of the village population enabled
the parish council to obtain a good cross section of views.
There have been a number of misunderstandings
about the purpose of this meeting, some of which were reported in a recent
edition of the Diss Mercury. To clarify matters a
copy of a letter sent to the local Lib. Dems. is reproduced below.
“To: The South Norfolk Liberal Democrat Party
I am writing in response to
the October 2006 edition of the South Norfolk Liberal Democrats newsletter
which you have circulated recently amongst the villagers of Hempnall, in
particular your front page report on the wind turbine issue.
It is not the intention of
Hempnall Parish Council to allow our consideration of Enertrag’s
proposal for a seven-turbine wind station development in the north east of the
parish to become a party political matter.
Your misleading comments seek merely to obtain political advantage by
attacking other political parties. This
proposal is far too significant for the people of Hempnall and the surrounding
area to be brought down to the level of party politics.
I believe your article
demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the issues surrounding the
recent Public Meeting in Hempnall: - both the reasons why the meeting was
called by the Parish Council and also why Enertrag was not invited to that
meeting.
The true facts of the
matter are these. Enertrag UK Limited
requested a private meeting
with Hempnall Parish Council to discuss their proposal. Having carefully
considered the matter, Hempnall Parish
Council decided that this was wholly inappropriate for an issue of such
magnitude and arranged for a public meeting to be held instead.
The sole purpose of this
public meeting was to enable residents of Hempnall parish - plus members of
peripheral parishes who are likely to be affected by this significant proposal
- to air their views, both positive and negative, and express their possible
concerns. This purpose was very clearly
explained at the outset of the meeting, making your comments that the Lib Dems are “concerned to get people’s opinions rather than
tell them what to think” all the more misleading.
Enertrag was not invited to
the meeting partly because of its obvious commercial interests, but mostly
because the Parish Council wanted the entire meeting free to be devoted to the
views of parishioners.
I would also advise you of
a serious factual error in your newsletter.
The maximum height of the proposed turbines is not 85 metres as
you state but 130 metres.
Your report has served to
undermine the efforts of Hempnall Parish Council to bring this issue to the
attention of local villagers. I believe that there was enormous value in the
meeting itself which had an unprecedented attendance of 120. Furthermore, the quality of discussion was
excellent, culminating in a 90% vote against the wind turbine proposal, with 3
people in favour and the remainder abstaining.
The residents of Hempnall proved themselves more than capable of expressing
their views on this important issue.
Yours faithfully
Geoffrey J Moulton
Chairman of Hempnall Parish
Council”
Continued overleaf….
Proposed Wind Farm Scoping
Document
As a consultee in the
planning process Hempnall Parish Council has an opportunity to raise issues for
consideration as part of the scoping document for the wind turbines' proposal.
The seven turbines will be spread over a large
area of countryside and each could reach a maximum height of 130 metres (433 ft
- 113 ft higher than the spire of Norwich Cathedral). They will have a very
significant visual impact on the landscape not only in Hempnall but also in
neighbouring parishes and beyond.
The parish council will be asking for a number
of issues to form part of the environmental impact assessment process. These
will include:
·
visual
impact
·
affect on
local rights of way
·
noise
pollution
·
affect on
vegetation and wildlife
·
light
pollution
·
impact
of the construction infrastructure (roads etc.)
·
affect
on rural tranquillity in an area that is relatively remote and unspoilt.
·
affect on
the quality of life of near neighbours
·
shadow
flicker
The Parish Council has been informed that
Enertrag has already entered into agreements with local landowners regarding
the siting of the turbines.
The Parish Council supports the extension of the village school
and recognises the great benefit it will provide to the education of Hempnall
children. The Parish Council has suggested some amendments to the school
extension design which it believes will make it fit better in to the
conservation area in which it is to be built. We do not consider that these
adjustments should hold up the planning process unduly and hope to be able to
view the amended proposals positively when they are presented for planning
consent in November.
Norfolk County Council however is encountering problems with
acquiring the land that is required for the school extension. They have
informed Hempnall Parish Council that a company called County and
Metropolitan has entered into an agreement with the landowners to promote
various pieces of land in Hempnall for development. These pieces of land
include the school playing field and the field immediately to the north (which
is located behind
The County Council says, "
negotiations have become difficult in that County and Metropolitan,
although not planning to develop the present playing field for housing, are
tying the development of the land to the north of the playing field to the
development of the school." They go on to state, " clearly as a
County Council we cannot become involved in any deal that would imply that we
are supporting such a housing development in exchange for land (for a school)
being given to the Authority. Such a housing development proposal must stand on
its own merits and be determined by the District Council."
Hempnall Parish Council has existing clear
policies regarding housing development within the village and they are:
1) That the development boundary of the village
shall not be extended.
2) That
there should be no large scale housing developments in the village.
3) That small scale infill developments, within
the current development boundary, are acceptable.
These policies were adopted by the parish
council as a response to proposals made by landowners as part of the South
Norfolk District Council LDF review and are aimed at protecting the local
landscape and environment.
We believe that Hempnall is currently an ideal
size - large enough to have
good services but small enough to function well as a community.
Furthermore the Parish Council, as a matter of
fundamental principle, is against the development of the school being linked to
the granting of planning permission for housing on adjoining land.
INFORMATION
AND YOUR VIEWS
Hempnall Parish Council will continue to keep
parishioners informed of developments relating to Enertrag's
proposals, Hempnall school and housing applications.
We will continue to consult widely with parishioners to ascertain your views.