13 September 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Planning Committee,

My name is Vickram Mirchandani and I am the Managing Director of Coronation Power- the company proposing the Bickham Moor wind farm.

After 4 years of developing wind farms, I have realized many things, but 1 thing most of all: that Wind farms are a divisive issue- You either love them or you hate them. We have evidence of this divide even in Mid Devon- amongst the public, with over 700 letters of support for our application and 500 or so letters of objection- but even amongst Devon’s own planning officers.

Let me explain. Jenny Clifford is recommending refusal of our wind farm but Devon County Council’s planning officers agree with our independent planning consultant, who is also a planner in Mid Devon, and their conclusions are that the scheme conforms to planning law and so should be given planning permission.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my perfect world. In it, we would have no power stations at all, but an unlimited supply of electricity. We would also have no telephone masts, but be able to use our mobile phones as much as we like.

Unfortunately Ladies and Gentlemen, this world is not perfect. And in an imperfect world, if we as a society want electricity and mobile phones, we have to accept the infrastructure that make these things possible – infrastructure like power stations and telephone masts.

I would like to answer the question- Why Bickham Moor for a wind farm? Why here? The answer is that it has a very high wind resource, is close to a grid connection, there is good access to it for delivery vehicles, and it’s not in a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or any ecologically protected area. There are also very few houses and settlements in this part of the district. In addition, the County is short of its 2010 Renewable Energy target set by Central government so a wind farm here contributes to the County renewable energy target, and the fight against climate change.

I’m sure by now you have heard of the Coopers Report which is recommending refusal of our wind farm on landscape grounds- that is that the wind farm will not look good in the local landscape. Firstly let me say that I agree with them on one point: the local landscape would look better without 4 wind turbines than with them. I concede this.

But I think the Coopers Report has missed the point. The Coopers report has not weighed the impacts to the landscape against the national need for more electricity. It has not given weight to the fact that the whole country- including Mid Devon- needs more infrastructure to generate electricity- or quite frankly the lights will go out. This is the reality of the situation.

I believe that your County Council has balanced both sides of the argument and has come to the right conclusion- they are recommending approval. They disagree with the Coopers Report, and support Bickham Moor as a location for a wind farm. In their consultee response they state and I quote:

"The committee resolved that as the Strategic Planning Authority, recognizing the renewable energy and economic benefits of the proposed development, considers that the impact of the development on the local Landscape Character Zones and Exmoor National Park, is not such that it outweighs the benefits and raises no strategic planning objection to the proposed development".

The interesting thing about the County Council’s view is that not only do they disagree with the Cooper’s Report, but they also disagree with the Exmoor National Park, the other objecting to the wind farm on landscape grounds.

The County Council doesn’t believe that the impacts of the proposed wind farm on Exmoor’s landscape are sufficient grounds to refuse the scheme after taking into account the benefits. After all Bickham Moor is 7km away from Exmoor and this is a long distance. I would like to point out that the Fullabrook wind farm is the same 7km distance away from Exmoor as Bickham is, and it was approved after a public inquiry, so a precedent has already been set by an inspector that wind farms can be built 7km away from Exmoor. 7km is enough of a buffer zone.

Apart from Landscape, the other reason being used by your planning officer to recommend refusal of our wind farm is Archaeology. Here desk based and geophysical studies have shown that there is no important archaeology under the Bickham Moor development, but Steven Reed, the County Archaeologist, wants us to dig World War 1 style trenches to confirm this. Only if we do this, will he give us the green light to get planning permission. In our view, this is a really extreme position to be taking.

In our view, we agree to dig trenches to double confirm that there is no important archaeology under the site- if that is what Steven Reed wants- but at the right time- and that would be just before construction begins. We would accept this as a planning condition. Why Steven Reed would want to disturb the natural environment before absolutely necessary is baffling to us? My conclusion on the matter: Steven Reed is too eager an archaeologist, and needs to be more reasonable.

Ladies and Gentlemen, its time to conclude, so let me sum up the 2 choices: you have, Coopers versus the Devon County Council, the Exmoor National Park against a previous appeal inspector’s decision and Jenny Clifford versus one of the best legal teams on the country.

I believe you are all good, rational people. I’m sorry to put you in the situation where I am asking you to overrule your planning officer’s recommendation, stand with your County Council, and give the Bickham moor wind farm planning permission. But I believe your planning officer has been misled by a well organized, vocal, anti-group, who haven’t quite understood the seriousness of climate change and energy security, or who simply don’t care.

Thank you for listening to me. Thank you also to Jenny Clifford who I have found to be professional and charming throughout the process. Now time to make your decision- and direct the way our county goes forward with policy regarding Climate Change and Energy Security.