Wind farm developers are using the Coalition’s new planning laws to challenge a local ban on building turbines next to houses, documents reveal.
RWE npower, the German energy giant, is threatening to take Milton Keynes Council to court over plans to stop big turbines being built less than 1.2km from housing.
The council is one of the first in the country to impose such a minimum distance, amid complaints that wind farms spoil views and cause noise pollution. Dozens of Conservative MPs are currently pushing for nationwide limits to stop wind farms coming too close to housing.
However, the Milton Keynes ban could affect RWE’s plans to put 17 wind turbines on two different sites in the face of strong local opposition.
David Cameron has claimed the Government’s planning laws “ensure that local people and their councils decide what people need”.
But the legal threat suggests councils will face court battles as companies try to prove the new laws promoting “sustainable development” override local interest.
