Client: South Cambridgeshire District Council and Stop Linton Wind Farm Action Group (SLWFAG)
Location: Linton, South Cambridgeshire

Brief
Michelle Bolger of Liz Lake Associates was appointed as an expert witness to give evidence on behalf of both SLWFAG and the local Council at the Inquiry into a proposed wind farm by wind energy company Enertrag UK to build an eight-turbine wind farm on the Cambridgeshire/Essex border.

Approach
Michelle prepared and presented evidence to the Inquiry on the potential impacts of the wind farm on local cultural heritage assets. South Cambridgeshire also engaged Michelle to provide evidence on potential adverse impacts on the local landscape.

Outcome
Residents were delighted to hear the announcement by the Planning Inspectorate that an appeal to allow the construction of the wind farm had been rejected. The Inspector's decision was unequivocal, with the potential harmful impact on aviation interests at Stansted and Luton airports being of greatest weight. However, the Inspector noted that significant harm was also found in respect of heritage assets and moderate-to-significant harm to the landscape. During her expert testimony, Michelle identified three conservation areas and two churches where the proposals would have been seriously harmful. The Inspector agreed with these assessments and also found significant harm at a third church.

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