The Proposal

Npower renewables, part of RWE group, is proposing to build a wind farm at Cotton Farm in Huntingdonshire. Cotton Farm lies to the west of the village of Graveley and south east of the village of Offord D'Arcy on a wide plateau above the Ouse Valley.

The site was used as an airfield in WW2. In around 1971 the runways were removed and the site was restored to arable farmland - as it is today.

Although the proposed site is in Huntingdonshire District, the eastern boundary is adjacent to South Cambridgeshire District and the nearest village (Graveley) is within South Cambridgeshire.

The proposal would comprise 8 wind turbines. Each turbine would be up to 127m (416ft) high to the tip and would sit on a concrete base on a hardstanding of 30m x 30m. A substation with associated transformers and electrical equipment would built (possibly with an external compound). There would also be an anemometry mast of the same height as the hub height of the turbines.

Access to the site for specalised low loader lorries and HGVs would be via a new site entrance from Toseland Road on the south side of Graveley. A network of access tracks (approx. 5m wide) would be required. The construction period would be approximately 12 months.

It is proposed that the wind farm would be decommissioned after 25 years.

Npower provisional wind farm configuration "subject to ongoing design" - (see Scoping Report) - red dots are turbine locations click for larger image (PDF)

According to Npower (see Npower website), the site could generate between 16 and 24 megawatts of electricity each year. Their estimates indicate that this could be equivalent to the electicity consumption of between 6,900 and 10,000 homes.

[To put the amount of electricity in context, there are approximately 6,980 homes in St Ives, 8,780 in Huntingdon and 11,440 in St Neots (source Cambs County Council Research Group latest dwelling stock estimates). In the villages most directly affected by the development (Graveley, Toseland, Yelling, Gt Paxton, Offords) there are approx. 1,200 (same source).]

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click map to see more detail at www.multimap.com

Npower website

Npower - Scoping Report - Nov 2007 (PDF format)

Npower - Newsletter 1 - Oct 2007

Huntingdonshire DC - "Wind Turbine Development in Huntingdonshire" - March 2005 (PDF format)

Huntingdonshire DC - "Supplementary Planning Document: Wind Power" - Jan 2006

Npower - area map (PDF format)

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