Wind Power Nick Harvey To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what onshore wind farm applications his Department did not initially object to but later objected to in the last three years; and what the reasons were for doing so. Derek Twigg There are a number of reasons why a late objection may have to be made; these include new information being made available, a change in Ministry of Defence requirements, or an improved understanding of the effects of wind turbines. In many cases a wind farm proposal changes significantly between the pre-planning consultation sent to the MOD and the final planning application. It is essential, therefore, that we assess the development in its final state using all available evidence. In some cases it will mean raising an objection when earlier we hadn't; in others we may be able to lift an objection we had previously registered. Over the past three years the MOD did not initially object to onshore wind farm applications, but did so later in the following cases: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Site name |Reason for MOD objection | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Wryde Croft|Unacceptable implications for Air Traffic Control (ATC) radars at RAF Coningsby, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Cranwell, RAF Waddington and also with the Precision Approach Radar (PAR) at RAF Wittering.| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Wandylaw |Unacceptable implications with Air Defence (AD) radar for the Remote Radar Head (RRH) Brizlee Wood in Northumberland. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Green Rig |Unacceptable interference with the ATC radars at RAF Spadeadam. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |French Farm|As for Wryde Croft. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Nutsgrove |As for Wryde Croft. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Routh |Unacceptable interference on AD radar at RRH Staxton Wold in Yorkshire. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ray |Unacceptable effect on the ATC radars at RAF Spadeadam. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Fallago Rig|Unacceptable effect on the AD radar at the RRH at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland. | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------