Government delays $450m wind turbine

Transport Minister Norman Baker announced that, whilst the Planning Inspectorate panel appointed to consider the application for the development had recommended granting consent, he wished to receive further evidence relating to ecological compensation measures and the protection of a local rail line.

Baker asked for further information on these two issues to be supplied by 25 September.

Should it get the green light the park is to cover 906 acres, providing 1,279 metres of quayside facilities purpose built for the manufacture, assembly and installation of offshore renewable technologies. It is expected to create 4,000 local jobs and establish the Humber area as a "world-class centre for the renewable energy industries", according to Able UK.

Neil Etherington, Able UK group development director, said: "It is obviously good news that the panel which carried out the very detailed and complex examination of our application recommended granting consent. It's also good news that in today's announcement Ministers do recognise the regeneration and economic benefits for both the local area and the wider development of the offshore renewable energy industry."

"At the same time it has to be said that a further delay in a decision is disappointing."

Baker's report stated that the government recognised that "facilitating the regeneration and economic development of the area around the project, and supporting the development of the offshore renewable energy industry are matters of substantial public benefit" but that it realised that the project "would be likely to have a number of adverse environmental impacts, especially in relation to the ecologically-sensitive Humber estuary."

Renewable UK's deputy chief executive, Maf Smith, said: "Today's announcement marks an important step forward in the development of the UK's offshore wind manufacturing sector. This project demonstrates the massive scale of the opportunity we have to revitalise coastal areas around the country, creating tens of thousands of green-collar jobs by focusing specifically on marine renewables."

Etherington added: "We will be taking immediate steps to address the issues raised in the government's announcement today."

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