UK - Go-ahead for private wind energy plans

Fuel bills are soaring and hardly a day goes by without dire warnings of future energy crises. But next time the price of electricity goes up, John and Jaqueline Gooder are more likely to feel cheered than concerned. Running a smallholding for a few sheep and pigs, with the house to light as well and four freezers inside runs up a hefty electricity bill, of about £1,200. But bills should soon be a thing of the past after the pair got planning permission from East Riding councillors to build a 15m wind turbine – around the size of a telegraph pole – outside their farmhouse in North Newbald. The parish council had objected on the grounds that it would be a blot on the landscape. But councillors rejected that argument and voted unanimously in favour of the application, thought to be a first for the East Riding.

The turbine built of steel with laminated wooden sails will cost £20,000, offset by a £5,000 Government subsidy. But the couple will generate all their own electricity with any surplus going into the National Grid – bringing in a small income depending on the weather. The turbine should pay for itself in 15 years. Mr Gooder, a languages consultant who works part-time at Wolfreton School, said he was delighted that councillors had voted unanimously in favour of the application. He said: "We live quite close to Drax, and although we can't see it it is a big reminder of what we are doing to the environment and the amount of sulphur and carbon going into the environment. We live in an isolated place although a lot of walkers go past. The parish council said it was a visual intrusion but the planners rejected that. They also said it was the thin end of the wedge. But I'm all in favour of this particular wedge. "The more people who see it and decide to have one for themselves the better for the environment." And he said people could go for a smaller model which cost around £1,500.