County Durham firm Banks Developments has started to prepare a scoping report for the proposed two-prong development, which would be located around the village of Stillington to the north west of Stockton.
Detailed proposals for the Lambs Hill wind farm are still in development, but it is expected that it would encompass between four and six turbines on land to the west of the village.
In addition to this, a small CHP scheme, which would be capable of producing up to 4MW of power, would be located next to existing businesses on the Stillington Industrial Estate to provide them with heat and electricity generated from renewable fuels, such as biodiesels.
Banks’ proposals received a positive response at an initial briefing meeting with Stillington and Whitton Parish Council, and discussions havealeady commenced with businesses on the Industrial Estate about the siting of the CHP plant in that location.
A full public-consultation exercise around the whole proposal will be undertaken by Banks over the coming months, beginning with an initial public exhibition that is currently being scheduled to take place early in the New Year - at which local people will be able to provide feedback on the outline plans.
If the plans are approved, the communities around the scheme would benefit directly from a community-development fund that would be focused on helping to tackle poor energy efficiency and high bills in homes, enabling community groups to install other forms of renewable energy and other community projects. The fund could also benefit community groups and voluntary organisations assisting local people and environmental projects in the vicinity of the project.
Banks Developments was behind the construction of North East England’s largest wind-farm development near its own offices at Tow Law and is currently progressing a number of other schemes across the UK, including the Moor House Wind Farm proposal to the north east of Darlington.
The company has also led the regeneration of the Bowesfield area over the last 10 years, bringing commercial and residential developments and a 37-acre nature reserve to the Stockton area.
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