The Conservatives have promised to give people living near proposed windfarms the final say on applications. Will the future of renewable energy in the UK come down to a matter of taste?
The village of Redwick lies on the outskirts of Newport, a small, pretty run of houses whose position on the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels serves as a reminder of the force of both humans and environment: on the horizon lies the city’s docks, while a scratchpost at the ancient parish church is marked with a reminder of just how high the waters rose in the Bristol Channel flood of 1607.
A year and a half ago, the village’s skyline shifted once again, when Newport council granted permission to Renewable Energy Systems (RES) to construct a wind turbine about 1.5km north-west of Redwick – an addition to the two turbines installed in 2011 at the nearby Tesco distribution centre. The Longlands Lane wind turbine was erected on 29 November last year, and generated its first electricity within a month. It is hoped it will be capable of providing enough electricity to meet the needs of around 800 homes.
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