Nature reserve group will not object to Bishop's Castle plan

The Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership is not looking to object to a proposal for a wind turbine to be built near Bishop’s Castle.

Shropshire and Telford Community Energy has submitted plans for the turbine to be placed at Conery Farm (historically known as ‘Shootin Alley’), to the west of the town. It has a maximum height to the blade tip of 80m, with a capacity of 1MW that can generate electricity to up to 650 households.

A supporting statement sent as part of the application says the turbine will operate ‘whenever wind speeds are suitable’ with the expection of downtime for maintenance.

“We have known this has been coming for quite a long time – there’s been a lot of work done with the community with consultations,” said Phil Holden, manager of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape.

“The places where the visual impact will be felt most is the main road south of Bishop’s Castle, there are public rights of way and open access land.

But visually, it doesn’t break the skyline.

“We have a planning protocol which is out of date. My recommendation is that the partnership wouldn’t object to this. If people feel that is the right cause, I suggest we take no action.

“Genuinely, we take the position not to actively support planning applications because if we do, I’ll get calls to lobby all sorts of things and that is not what we want to do.”

The supporting statement says the turbine will power community heat pumps in Bishop’s Castle, which will replace a large number of individual domestic and commercial oil-based heating systems in the town. It would also supply the SpArC Leisure Centre, with any excess being exported to the grid.

“A lot of problems around wind turbines are the connections to the grid because it’s the associated infrastructure that often mars the landscape rather than the turbines,” said Councillor Heather Kidd, who is part of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership.

“And it’s that connection that concerns me. I’m not saying we’re supporting or objecting to it, but the question needs to be answered because it’s part of the whole package.”

Nick Read, from South Shropshire Climate Action, said: “I thought the point of this was to power things in Bishop’s Castle, it wasn’t about connecting to the grid. So the power will be used locally.”

The applicant says it has been working on the project with Lightfoot, an environment charity based in Bishop’s Castle, since 2021.

“I know the group that is very happy to receive any questions and to have a collaborative conversation about it,” said Daphne Du Cross, of Shropshire Good Food Partnership.

At the time of writing, three members of the public had commented on the scheme, with all being in support.

“It will substantially reduce the carbon footprint of Bishop’s Castle, and will benefit people who are unable to afford individual air source heat pumps,” said Mike Watkins.

“If successful, it will set a precedent for other rural market towns to follow.”

Dr Jan Arriens added: “I strongly support this carefully prepared, imaginative proposal, hoping it may lead the way for similar projects elsewhere.”

Comments regarding the plans (reference 25/00177/FUL) should be submitted by February 27.