ENABLING works are under way in preparation for the construction of Den Brook Wind Farm in the Den Brook Valley between Spreyton, Bow and North Tawton.

As part of the preparations, renewable energy company RES (Renewable Energy Systems Ltd) will be creating a site entrance off the A3072 between North Tawton and Bow.

The works are expected to begin in the week beginning, Monday, November 11 and will take approximately five weeks to complete.

Temporary traffic controls will be operating 24 hours a day during this time.

Rob Kemeys, RES construction project manager, said: "We began work on site in September to prepare the first 100m or so of the access track that will lead from the A3072 to the turbine locations.

"We now need to join this track to the public highway and the traffic controls are there to ensure the safety of road users and construction workers during this period."

He added: "Only a short stretch of the public road is involved and we don't expect the traffic controls to make any significant difference to travel times for people using this route."

RES says it has planned its construction timetable with great care to minimise any disruption, working in close consultation with West Devon Borough Council, highways authorities and environmental experts. When the access works are complete, it says work on site will cease until Spring 2014 to minimise disturbance to any hibernating dormice.

Once fully operational, the nine turbines at Den Brook Wind Farm will be capable of generating sufficient renewable energy to meet the average requirements of approximately 9,425 homes – equivalent to more than 40 per cent of all the homes in West Devon.

It will also provide a community benefits package of £90,000 per year, including a Community Fund for people to invest in local social, educational and environmental projects.

The planning application for Den Brook Wind Farm was submitted to West Devon Borough Council in November 2005 after RES spent two years completing survey work, design and consultation with independent experts and the local community.

It was granted planning permission in February 2007, after a full public inquiry.

A legal challenge was lodged by opponents to the scheme in March 2007 and was dismissed in the High Court in February 2008.

Leave to appeal was granted and consent for the project was quashed in July 2008.

RES agreed not to continue with court proceedings, but rather to bring them to an end by consent and return to public inquiry to resolve the matter.

The second public inquiry was held in the autumn of 2009 and consent was granted in December 2009. A legal challenge was lodged in January 2010 and was dismissed in the High Court in July 2010.

Opponents of the Den Brook Wind Farm and its 120-metre high turbines have, most recently, been protesting about changes RES wished to make, namely to Amplitude Modulation (AM) noise controls.

Further road works will be completed before the wind farm can be built.

The turbines will be moved to the site by road but there were concerns that there could be highways issues at the Whiddon Down junction.

RES says that while the turbine deliveries could have negotiated the existing junction, it pursued and obtained planning permission for a new link road at the junction as part of its commitment to investing in local communities.

Work will start on the Whiddon Down link road in late 2013/early 2014 and last approximately five months.

It is anticipated that the turbines will be delivered to the site in late 2014.

Alan Quick