Householder’s victory against turbine plans

A householder has won a High Court order quashing a Government inspector’s decision to grant planning permission for a wind turbine near his home.

A judge ruled the decision-making process conducted by a planning inspector was flawed and the proposal for the turbine at High Down, near Redland in South East Cornwall, must be reconsidered.

The ruling at the High Court in London was a victory for Daniel Mageean, of Redland Farm, St Ive, Liskeard.

The case is one of several legal actions involving wind turbines that are coming before the courts in a backlash by “local people” opposed to the Government’s push for renewable energy.

Mr Mageean is a leading member of local campaign group Green Caradon Against Turbines and went to court to get the case reassessed by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles.

His solicitor Richard Buxton said after the ruling: “As the permission has been quashed, the Secretary of State will now have to consider whether there should be an environmental impact assessment.

“In particular, he will have to consider whether the proposed development is indeed likely to have significant environmental effects in the light of the designation of a world heritage site so close to the turbine.”

The planning inspector granted permission to the Truro-based Cornwall Light & Power Company on appeal, after Cornwall Council had found that the turbine – up to 80 metres high at the tip of the blade – would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the surrounding landscape.

Yesterday, Judge Robinson, sitting at London’s High Court, said the inspector had relied on a 2003 “screening direction” by the Government Office for the South West, made before Caradon Mining’s designation as a world heritage site, which concluded an environmental impact assessment was not necessary.

The judge ruled the inspector had erred by not referring the screening direction back to the Secretary of State for reconsideration.

The judge ordered the Communities Secretary to pay half of Mr Mageean’s legal costs, around £15,000.

She refused the minister permission to appeal against her decision, although he can ask the Court of Appeal directly to consider the case.