Wind energy exhibitions to be held across Oxford

Published: 04/02/2010

Renewable energy specialists Partnerships for Renewables (PfR) and Oxford City Council are preparing to share the progress of their wind energy investigations on council land at three public exhibitions.

OCC is the first council in England and Wales to commit to exploring the potential for commercial scale wind energy on its land. The council has formed a partnership with PfR, which has been surveying possible sites for wind turbines around Oxford.

Councillor John Tanner, Board Member for a Cleaner, Greener Oxford, says: “Modern wind turbines look good, are quiet, can provide cheap electricity for thousands of homes and are vital for Oxford to play its full part in tackling climate change.

"Initial research around Oxford looked at hundreds of parcels of council owned land – and as we’ve increased the details of our investigations we have whittled it down to two sites for further consideration by PfR - one at Horspath Road and one in Cutteslowe Park. Both are at early stages of investigation and will only go ahead if research shows they are appropriate sites.

"There is no cost to the taxpayer associated with these projects because PfR is covering the cost of the development – if the turbines are built most of the money will go to PfR and the council and the local community will get a share. Building wind turbines on council owned land has all-party support.”

A planning application for a monitoring mast at the Horspath site, which is the most advanced project in terms of environmental and technical research, is likely to be submitted in the next few weeks. This will gather data on wind flow characteristics and confirm whether the site has enough energy potential for a turbine.

Tony Duffin, Regional Manager at PfR comments: “We are now at the stage of undergoing more detailed studies to establish if these sites should be taken through to submitting a planning application. We are interested in developing only those sites that are appropriate, all factors considered. We look forward to meeting local residents and hearing more about their views.”

The exhibitions offer a chance for residents to go along, view details of the investigations so far and talk to the project team. OCC and PfR are keen to stress that there are no firm decisions on location yet and the plans are not yet at the stage of planning submission.

Both OCC and PfR are committed to ensuring that the local community is central to the development process, and are hoping that residents and businesses will visit the exhibitions and offer feedback on the plans.

The exhibitions are being held at Horspath Village Hall (16 February, 1pm to 6pm), Cutteslowe Pavilion (17 February, 2pm to 7pm) and Oxford Town Hall (18 February, 11am to 7pm).

Anyone wishing to find out more about the projects can visit the project website at www.pfr.co.uk/horspath or www.pfr.co.uk/cutteslowe email pfr@communityrelations.co.uk or call 0800 731 7395.

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