Parish Council

NEWS from the Eardisley Group Parish Council

Wind Turbine Transport

On 13th July two representatives of Scottish Power (SP) came to a meeting which they had set up with the 4 shop keepers in the centre of the village. Their purpose for the meeting was "to work out possible ways in which, in the event of turbine traffic going through Eardisley, there could be least disruption to the village". It was extremely arrogant of SP to avoid working with the elected Parish Council and to assume the shop keepers represented the village and could negotiate a settlement.

In the meeting, SP said they never pay compensation to individuals but said it is their practice to set up a trust fund for communities in the area of developing wind farm sites. In this case, they were suggesting that the County in which the farm is sited might be willing to give up half of their wind farm payment, in order to set up the fund. This is unlikely to happen! In any case the sum mentioned - £90,000 - is too small a fund to provide any significant benefit which would outweigh the damage to Eardisley caused by the parking restrictions SP require.

SP also described Eardisley as similar to Maybole (nearly twice the size of Kington) on the A77 in Scotland, saying the loads went through that 'village' at night and caused no problems. David Perridge, West Mercia Inspector of Police subsequently said the terrain in that area is wide open and the traffic is light compared to this area, therefore the motorcycle outriders do not face the dangers that they face in undulating, hedge-lined Herefordshire roads. He is adamant that WM Police will not agree to night journeys. As a negotiation, and as a public relations exercise SP has achieved nothing by this meeting. On the contrary, some village people are even more angry.

On 9th July 2010 the Parish Council Working Group met with 2 representatives of Herefordshire's Highways section . The purpose of the meeting was to investigate whether, if this route is chosen, there is any way of restricting parking in Eardisley, without harming the life of the village in any way. The conversation was positive but has not reached the desired 'Plan B' outcome yet.

The group decided to meet again in August and, in the meantime, that both Hereford CC and Eardisley PC Working Group will continue to do everything possible to achieve 'Plan A' which is NOT to have the loads pass through the village at all.

A meeting regarding Transport of Wind Turbine Components was held in Eardisley Village Hall on Tuesday 8th June. Read the report of this latest meeting.

At this time NO decision has been reached about the use of the route through Eardisley. On 21st and 22nd June trials were held of another route southwards from Ellesmere Port. It appears that traffic management plans will be drawn up by Scottish Power to help them assess further the suitability of each route considered. To that end the main road through Eardisley is being surveyed.

Earlier this week, there were policemen in the cafe who said that the Eardisley route had been chosen. The Police Inspector in charge of the Herefordshire section of the route said they were on a training course and were using the route as a simulation. Without doubt, they were acting inappropriately and were out of line.

Read the minutes of the meeting 31 March 2010 about the proposal for transport of wind turbine components through Eardisley.

Read the background to the meeting 31 March 2010 about the proposal for transport of wind turbine components through Eardisley.

Herefordshire Council's "Shaping Our Space 2026" Document

Read the response to this document from Eardisley Group Parish Council following the public meeting on Tuesday 23rd March 2010.

Speed Indicator

The Parish Council has bought a Speed Indicator device for use in the three parishes.  Its first outing is in Eardisley, and as the post holes are installed the device will move around the three parishes.  The device not only indicates the vehicle speed to the motorist, it also collects data so we can have up to date speed information within the three parishes which will be published on the website. 

The Parish council has purchased this equipment in response to resident concerns over speeding in the three parishes.