A NORTH Yorkshire MP has criticised the number of proposed wind turbines in the region and backed a scheme to give the public more say on their locations.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, praised the scheme recently introduced by Lincolnshire County Council which states industrial turbines should not be situated closer than 2km to individual homes and 10km from villages.

He said: “This is a forward-thinking move by Lincolnshire County Council and it shows that the Conservative majority on the council is prepared to stand up for the interests of people living in the county.

“It is a move which other counties including North Yorkshire should adopt because it enables local people to have a strong voice in decisions that affect them. A presumption in favour of the people who live there is a far more equitable start point than one where there is a presumption in favour of building wind farms.”

A spokesman for Stop Woodlane Windfarm, a group opposed to a wind farm in Hillam, welcomed the suggestion, and said: “It is clear from the current level of opposition to wind farms, an opposition that is growing in strength, that the result of a 2km minimum distance policy would be that people living close to proposed sites would use it to block wind farm construction and as a consequence fewer wind farms would be approved.”

Mr Adams said he also supported alternatives to wind power.

He said: “Drax and Eggborough (power stations) in Selby district are both planning to convert to biomass and this is receiving support from myself and many others.

“Wind turbines also have their part to play but should be located where they do not have a negative impact on the people that live near to them.

“We should not be spoiling the places that people value so highly, like the areas where they live and our areas of Outstanding National Beauty, unless the people living near them are happy for this to happen.”