Guy Renner-Thompson, the Conservative candidate for North East Mayor, says Liberal Democrats have questions to answer on UK’s largest on-shore wind farm plan.
Liberal Democrat candidate Dr Aidan King plans to build the colossal wind farm between Newton Aycliffe, Barnard Castle and Hexham.
Guy said, "Dr King has repeated his plans for Britain's biggest wind farm across Northumberland and Durham, but we haven't seen any detail, or whether he will consult with the communities affected. How will he buy the land? How will he connect to the electricity grid?
Much of the area is part of the unspoilt North Pennies Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Offshore wind farms are the way forward, they can be bigger and the wind is more reliable. I hope these half-baked plans never see the light of day.
Do local Lib-Dem councillors in Durham and Northumberland agree with their mayoral candidate or would they stick up for their residents if they oppose the wind farm plans?"
Conservative Government policy remains that on-shore wind farm sites can only go ahead if they have 'community consent'. The UK government has outlined ambitious plans to increase offshore wind capacity to 40GW by 2030, triple the current output.
Source - 'Integrated' transport system at the heart of pledges at mayoral hustings event - Chronicle Live
