Wind farm substations ‘will have impact’

Infrastructure for a proposed wind farm will have a ‘significant impact’ on a South Holland location, a county councillor has claimed.

Coun Colin Davie made the claim after being asked about the impacts of wind farms during a meeting of Lincolnshire County Council last week.
He was referring to the Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm, the turbines for which are to be 54km off the coast of Skegness.
The company behind it says it will be connected to the National Grid in either Surfleet Marsh or Weston Marsh.
It would be connected to the turbines via underground cables.
Coun Davie told the county council that the Outer Dowsing company’s plans “will be a significant impact on the Weston Marsh area”. (The official consultation documents previously referred to the two options as Weston Marsh North and South).
“When the application comes as a formal document we’ll analyse it carefully and we’ll be looking at soil analysis this time, now there’s clear evidence soil does not recover when it is disturbed in the way it’s alleged it does,” he continued. “Its importance for the agricultural land for the growing of crops needs to be remembered always in all planning considerations.”
He went on to claim that there were “severe challenges in the offshore sector” saying one application had been paused and there were no bidders to run another proposed farm.
Coun Davie claimed that was due to the price government was prepared to pay in terms of subsidy not being high enough.