Huge onshore UK windfarm gets government nod

The UK's energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey has approved a huge wind farm right next door to the constituency of his anti-wind farm colleague, John Hayes.

Heckington Fen in Lincolnshire, just north of Hayes' constituency, would get up to 22 turbines which would make it the fourth-largest onshore wind farm in England, according to developer, Ecotricity.

Davey, a Liberal Democrat MP who has always supported renewable energy, has had to contend with Hayes, the new energy minister and Conservative MP for South Holland, as also a growing anti-wind power movement among some constituents of the coalition.

Commentators point out that permission for onshore windfarms was already difficult to get, especially in Lincolnshire, where the Conservative-run county council has put up tough hurdles for turbine schemes.

According to Hayes, who took the energy portfolio last autumn, there were already too many wind turbines dotting the UK without enough consideration for the countryside and people's homes. He added enough was enough.

He said in an interview that wind turbines could no longer be imposed on communities. He said he could not single-handedly build a new Jerusalem but could protect the UK's green and pleasant land.