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Proceeding contribution from Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Labour) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 7 September 2011. It occurred during Adjournment debate on Wind Farm Development (Sedgefield).


Wind Farm Development (Sedgefield)

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Although the landscape in the area has begun to be reindustrialised, we are not getting any of the benefits. We are getting energy from other renewable sources such as hydro, landfill, and biomass, and now our constituents are beginning to wonder whether we are all in this together. They look at Hampshire, which is using three times as much energy as Durham but taking only about 4% of it from renewables. Moreover, there is not one on-shore wind farm in the area, despite the fact that it is the county in which the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change has his constituency. Only five members of the Cabinet have wind farms in their constituency. Some have a lot. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has 259 in his constituency of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, but his constituency covers l,911 square miles—almost as many as there are amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill. The Scottish Secretary has 226 turbines in a constituency covering almost 1,500 square miles. The Foreign Secretary, whose constituency is adjacent to mine, has 24 turbines in an area covering 739 square miles. Sedgefield covers 151 square miles. If the developers get their way and all 87 turbines get the go-ahead, we could see one turbine for every 1.7 square miles. Does the Minister not agree that the planning system for such huge structures is chaotic?


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
532 c128WH 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Subjects
Environment protection Electricity generation Planning permission Wind power Sedgefield
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk