The National Trust, English Heritage and East Northamptonshire Council have decided to mount a joint High Court challenge against the planning permission granted on appeal for a wind farm proposed for a location within a mile of a Grade I listed building and registered park and garden.??
At issue is a project that could see four 126.5m wind turbines built within the setting of the Lyveden New Bield site – a place described by the planning inspector who considered the appeal as ‘probably the finest example of an Elizabethan garden [with a] cultural value of national if not international significance ‘.??After planning permission was initially refused by the local council, the development was given consent on appeal in March 2012. The three organisations have begun legal proceedings under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
It is rare for English Heritage and the National Trust to pursue legal action and it is the first time that East Northamptonshire Council has taken High Court action over a planning issue.??The National Trust’s director-general, Fiona Reynolds, said: ‘We have backed a number of wind proposals where scale and setting have been considered appropriate. However, the decision to allow a development of this size so close to one of the country’s most treasured historic places is both damaging to Lyveden New Bield and could have serious implications for other heritage sites across the UK.?? ‘It is because of the threat this decision poses to the setting of all our valued historic sites that we, along with English Heritage and the local council, have taken the significant step of making an appeal to the Administrative Court.’
The chief executive of English Heritage, Simon Thurley, said: ‘We were extremely disappointed by the Inspector’s decision to allow the wind farm. The Inspector did not adequately take into account the contribution that Lyveden New Bield’s historic and rural surroundings make to its immense significance.
‘This decision is highly unusual and must not be allowed to become the benchmark for future wind-energy developments. ‘
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