A year ago, at a meeting of the planning policy group at the District Council, I proposed that we should bring in a planning policy on wind turbines to protect our countryside. This should restrict their size, their location and their proximity to residential properties.

Officers argued that current policies on the countryside, the environment and development were adequate and it was not necessary.

At a further meeting I attempted to bring up the subject again, but with opposition from planning officers and no support from the Cabinet, the matter was dropped.

But are our current policies adequate?

Earlier this year planning permission was granted for a wind turbine at St Briavels. Encouraged by the promise of 4 per cent profit being re-invested in the community and with the proposed site not being visible from the village, the parish council supported the scheme. Neighbouring parishes were not consulted.

Six weeks ago, the gentle wooded escarpment between Aylburton and Hewelsfield was transformed by the erection of an 87metre high turbine, which looms over the valley and impacts on the visual amenity of those living below.

Another planning application is now in for a similar turbine at Court Farm, Alvington, and a further three are planned along the A48 at Stroat, Plusterwine and Lydney. The turbines will be visible from the A48, the railway, several public footpaths and countless residential properties and may well affect migratory and nesting patterns of birds in the area. The cumulative effect of these vast machines will be to industrialise the rural landscape along the Severn estuary.

At a public meeting in Aylburton, the overwhelming feeling was outrage and dismay, coupled with helplessness that the development could take place notwithstanding strong local feeling.

Opposition has also been voiced in both Lydney and Coleford at plans to construct turbines near residential properties. We have been promised a greater say in decision making in our communities with the Localism Bill. Are these empty promises?

This is not about the need for renewable energy, but the positioning and impact on the environment of such industrial units is crucial if we are not to ruin our countryside for future generations.

It is incumbent on the District Council to listen and act to defend our rural landscape, to have regard to the wishes of local people and to respond by bringing in a specific planning policy to protect our district

– Marion Winship, district councillor, Alvington, Aylburton and West Lydney.