A specialist checks for great crested newts and other wildlife

Preparations continue for the installation of the Marston Mill wind turbine in the Millennium Country Park. Works are likely to begin early in 2012. The Marston Vale Trust is committed to the environmentally led regeneration of the Marston Vale and considers that wind energy has a significant role to play in creating a more sustainable future for the area.

Public information days held at the Forest Centre in 2005 and 2006 showed there was excellent local support for the project with 87% of respondents considering it an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ idea and less than 10% considering it to be ‘not a good idea’. The Trust received planning permission last year to install a single wind turbine in the Millennium Country Park.

Benefits to the Forest

The wind turbine will have a hub height of approximately 85m (roughly the height of the Stewartby chimneys) and a maximum blade to tip height of 120.5m. It will produce enough energy for the Forest Centre and over 900 houses. The surplus will be sold to the National Grid, providing valuable income to the Marston Vale Trust which will be used in its work to create the Forest of Marston Vale.

Comprehensive environmental studies have been completed to ensure that potential noise and shadow flicker impacts at residential properties, and potential impacts on the wildlife of the Park are limited to an acceptable level.

A number of site investigations have been completed over the past weeks. Boreholes will guide the exact design and construction specifications of the turbine. If you visit the Park, you will notice that an area of hawthorn scrub has been cleared leading to, as well as in the area of, the proposed wind turbine. This is to construct a new surfaced access track and foundations for the turbine and construction pad. The clearance was carried out at this time of year to avoid nesting birds and also to minimise disturbance to great crested newts which live in the Park. These newts are a European protected species so all measures must be taken to avoid any damage or disturbance to them. During this clearance phase, an ecological consultant, licensed to handle newts, was on site supervising the work. Scrub was cut down to a height of 15cm, the area hand-searched for newts (or any other wildlife) before being fully cleared to ground level.

Better pedestrian access

The new track will remain for future maintenance works. It will double as a surfaced route, perfect for wheelchair and buggy users, into a part of the Park which is currently more difficult to access. There will inevitably be some disruption to visitors when the construction begins but this will be kept to an absolute minimum to ensure the project is completed as sensitively as possible.

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