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126m wind turbine near Wolverhampton: Residents start fight to block 'monstrosity'

Residents will explore ways to fight against a plan for a 'monstrosity' 126m high wind turbine.

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People living near UTC Aerospace's Stafford Road site in the Fordhouses area of Wolverhampton packed into St James' Church in Taunton Avenue for a public consultation on the turbine plans.

Mocked up images and FAQs about turbines were posted on noticeboards as staff from UTC and CleanEarth tried to answer questions.

Steve King, from Oval Drive, said: "I'm strongly opposed to it.

"It's a massive construction which will certainly be detrimental to the landscape for miles around. It will destroy the quality of life for residents living nearby.

"I don't want to live in a house where I go outside and all I can see is this towering turbine. I wouldn't have bought my house here if the turbine was already in place.

I've spoken to other residents and we're going to try and work out ways in which we can prevent this monstrosity from going through."

Karen Tomlinson, also from Oval Drive, felt the pictures didn't show the turbine's true height.

She said: "I don't think the pictures they have shown are a realistic representation.

"It's just peeping over shops on the pictures, but it's going to be absolutely massive.

"They should have made a scaled-down model to give us a more accurate picture.

"I'm not too worried from a noise point of view but if this one gets accepted, will Jaguar Land Rover try and put one up? And then other companies might follow and before you know it, we could have masses of them all over the place."

Another Oval Drive resident, Charles Leach, aged 22, claimed the questionnaire was worded to get the company the answers it wanted.

But not all were against the proposal. Jennifer Williams, from Stafford Road, said: "I think this is brilliant. It will show people coming into the city that we're a thriving industrial place. We can't keep using fossil fuels.

People are complaining about the visual impact, but we're not a beautiful rural area. We're a city, you can already see industrial buildings everywhere."

Emma Reynolds MP said: "I don't want to voice an opinion too early. It is a matter for the residents. There are positives and negatives."

Robert Hupfer, general manager for actuation and propeller systems at UTC, insists that the turbine is crucial for the company to continue its growth.

He said: "What we do know is that it's a change for people. We will hold more consultations if they need it.

"Noise is a big issue which is why we are taking all these measurements to make sure it is kept to a minimum.

"The look of it for people is subjective. We are in growth and for us to continue with that we must find a cheaper source of energy. If we can't do that, it stops us from competing and growing."

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