By Sarah Newstead

Last updated at 10:57, Friday, 14 August 2009

A windfarm with up to eleven turbines could be built bordering the village of Rosley.

Energy firm Pure Renewable Energies (PRE) is exploring the possibility of constructing the turbines of up to 410ft high at Realthwaite Farm, Brocklebank.

The turbines from base to blade tip would be almost three times the height of Carlisle’s Civic Centre.

The 152-hectare site, currently crop and grazing farmland, is just over a mile from Rosley and lies around four miles to the south east of Wigton.

It includes ancient woodland and is surrounded by the Solway Basin and Cumbria’s fells.

Under a scoping application submitted to Allerdale Council last month, the plan would also include a control building and transportation roads.

Adrian Miller, of County Durham-based PRE, said: “This is one of the sites we are looking at. This is very much the first stage of the process.

“There are a number of difficulties to building windfarms in Cumbria involving the Ministry of Defence and the National Aviation Service, and there are a number of technical aspects to be considered,” added Mr Miller.

“In a lot of cases, because of technical reasons such as radar impact, ecology or access, sites are simply not practical propositions. We run sites through the scoping and make a decision about whether it is commercially viable.”

If PRE decide to forge ahead, the next step will be community consultation before any planning application can be lodged.

“Opinions can be split,” added Mr Miller. “Everybody thinks renewable energy is a good idea, but people say ‘not here’. We are conscious of the views that people have. These are large structures. For some people they are elegant designs, for others they are industrial monstrosities.

“Cumbria is known as the energy coast and has an expansive wind resource, but I’m afraid that does come at a cost.”

A scoping opinion allows the council to highlight issues that need to be included in an Environmental Impact Assessment which must accompany any future planning application.

The scoping activity comes as BT is preparing a planning application to Allerdale for a windfarm at Threapland Lees, near Aspatria.

Broadview Energy has applied for permission to put three 350-ft turbines on a site at Warwick Hall Farm, near Westnewton.

First published at 05:16, Friday, 14 August 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk