AS planning applications for wind turbines in Fenland continue to increase, applicants wanting to build turbines had mixed fortunes this week.

Greenvale at Doddington was granted permission to build a turbines with an overall height of 110 metres, but Windcrop Ltd was refused permission to erect a turbine with a hub height of 14.9 metres at Peartree Farm in Christchurch.

According to Fenland District Council, last year the authority dealt with 13 applications to build a total of 37 turbines, and so far this year, the council has had 26 applications for 43 turbines. Around half of the turbines proposed were for smaller structures, of less than 20 metres.

A spokesman said: “The reasons for this increase are not entirely clear. One factor is simply that the technology has become more efficient and there is a trend for individual farm enterprises in particular to make use of that.”

Two individual letters from March Town Council had objected to the Greenvale plan to build the turbine next to an established vegetable and storage packaging complex, saying it would spoil the countryside, disrupt the lives of neighbours, and complained about the high concentration of turbines in the area.

The Greenvale plan for the 110 metre turbine replaces the plan for a smaller structure approved at the end of last year. A planning officer said: “The new proposal will have no greater affect on residential amenity of local residents than the approved scheme.”

The turbine proposed for Peartree Farm at Christchurch was rejected after an officer said that although the plan would not have an adverse affect on nearby residential properties, the applicant had failed to carry out survey work to monitor its affect on the nearby Ouse Washes and the swan population.

A retrospective plan for Windcrop Ltd to build three 14.9 metre hub-height turbines on land south east of Pipers Farm at Wisbech was put on hold for the committee to inspect the site.