English Heritage is joining with others to make a joint legal challenge to planning permission for a wind farm that would be built within 1 mile of Lyveden New Bield, a Grade I listed building and registered park and garden – described even by the Inspector as having “cultural value of national if not international significance”
So why is that good news for prehistory? Because Chief Executive Simon Thurley said:
“Our challenge to his decision is not simply about the balance of professional judgement between heritage and renewable energy. The Inspector did not adequately take into account the contribution that Lyveden New Bield’s historic and rural surroundings make to its immense significance. In our view, therefore, he failed to have ‘special regard’ for the desirability of preserving the special interest of the listed building and its setting which the law requires of him as decision-maker in this case.”
Anything that reinforces the notion that “setting” is a vital part of cultural value and worth preserving has got to be good news for those with a particular interest in prehistoric monuments!
The Heritage Journal 
6 comments
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26/04/2012 at 11:11
Ronnie
I have a problem with this. No-one values historic and ancient sites more than I do BUT there is far too much NIMBY-ism regarding wind farms and renewable energy schemes. I live near Hinkley Point in Somerset and can tell you that I would rather see a few windfarms round here rather than more NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS! Just look at the massive sarcophagus which is going to cost over 150 MILLION DOLLARS to encase Chernobyl for the next XXX hundreds or may be thousands of years! And let’s not forget Fukushima – no one’s got any idea how long that massive radioactive no go area is going to last and what extent the damge is going to be yet and that was in Japan; one of the most technologically advanced nations on the planet! At least with a wind farm you can dismantle them when they are finnished with and theres no toxic legacy or MASSIVE CONCRETE SARCOPHAGUS devastating the ‘SETTING’ for decades or centuries afterwards! THINK ON!
26/04/2012 at 11:31
heritageaction
Hi Ronnie,
Is nuclear power the inevitable alternative to wind power? Possibly not. But more to the point is there an alternative to siting wind farms right next to scheduled monuments thereby reducing their cultural value? Yes! That’s our basic thesis and if that’s Nimbyism sign us up!
26/04/2012 at 11:47
Ronnie
Consider yourself as a fully signed up member of the renewable energy NIMBY club and I hope you enjoy all the benefits of a radioactive heritage!
You are quite right about Nuclear Power not being the only alternative to wind farms BUT whilst everyone protests against the siting of the latter ANYWHERE & EVERYWHERE – that ‘fuels’ the government’s agrument / professed need / plans to expand the Nuclear Power Station building program.
I would have thought people with an interest in the long term conservation of ‘important’ places could see that wind farms are a far less destructive answer to our very real looming energy crisis than Nuclear Power stations are IN THE LONG TERM (as explained in my earlier post). As in the heritage we leave our children!
26/04/2012 at 12:19
heritageaction
We shall have to differ. We are no more pro nuclear or anti wind than you and you have no reason to think we are, it’s just that we would prefer wind farms to be cited in the 99% of least damaging places, not the 1% of most damaging. That’s reasonable isn’t it?
It’s all a matter of where you draw the line. I presume you too would oppose a wind turbine in the middle of Avebury Henge?! So how far away is unacceptable? There has to be a line between “regrettable but OK” and “not OK”. You seem to be asking us to say everything should be seen as regrettable but OK.
26/04/2012 at 12:30
Ronnie
Yes you are right – indeed we shall have to differ: if you equate Lyveden New Bield with Avebury Henge!
26/04/2012 at 13:05
heritageaction
The point about Lyveden New Bield is that in our view it is within the 1% of places that ought to be spared a windfarm close to it!