Great Notley wind turbine plans put on hold by council

Plans for a £2.4m wind turbine at a country park in Essex have been halted.

Braintree District Council had proposed building a single 1.5 megawatt (MW) turbine, capable of powering 800 homes, at Great Notley Country Park.

It estimated it could earn £250,000 per year by selling power to the National Grid through the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

The council said government plans to cut the amount paid back made it "increasingly uncertain" as to whether the turbine was financially viable.

An eight-week public consultation, which began in December, has also been closed.

The leader of the Conservative council, Graham Butland, said: "I think it is right to now bring the consultation to a hold.

"The council itself has some key issues to consider before we commit any more resources to this project."

Mr Butland added the proposed site for the turbine, which is 500 metres (1,640ft) from nearby homes, was another consideration.

He said: "I am concerned about the differing views on appropriate distances of wind turbines from residential properties, as nationally there is still a lot of debate on this.

"I want to be assured we are doing the right thing."