Replacement wind turbine twice the size approved

A prominent wind turbine is to be replaced with a new one twice its size, planning officers have decided.

The existing 40m (131ft) tall turbine at Rogers Hill Farm in Dorset has been on a hilltop site close to the A35 since 2012, and provides 500KW of power.

Dorset Council's Eastern Area Planning Committee approved a new turbine with an 80m (263ft) tall tower, that will generate 2MW of power.

Case officer Liz Adams said the benefits of the new structure outweighed the potential harm, though objections were raised in the meeting regarding its "overbearing size" and its effect on views in the area.

The plans were submitted to Dorset Council by owner Distributed Generation Ltd.

The new turbine will be located 250m (820ft) to the south of the existing turbine, which will be removed.

Councillors heard that Bournemouth Airport originally raised concerns about potential disruption to its new radar system, but that it had removed its objection following a safeguarding assessment.

But Historic England said it could impact the landscape at nearby Milton Abbey and its Grade I listed house, and the hillforts at Woodbury Hill and Weatherby Castle, to which the council's conservation officer agreed.

A landscape enhancement contribution of up to £120,000 will be paid over the new turbine's 30-year lifetime.

It will have a larger rotor diameter, meaning the overall height of the new turbine will be 125m (410ft), compared to the current 59.5m (195ft), though it will rotate more slowly.

Documents with the planning application accept that the bigger turbine will be visible over a larger area, but argue that it would not be materially different than the existing structure in its impact on the landscape.

But at the meeting a representative for Dorset CPRE warned that the replacement was taller than Salisbury Cathedral, and said it was "laughable" that it would not do "harm" to "large swathes of Dorset" due to its "overbearing scale and magnitude".

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