CAMPAIGNERS opposing a wind farm with nine turbines at Den Brook near North Tawton were 'delighted' this week after hearing the announcement that another public inquiry is on the cards.

Renewable Energy Systems (RES) announced last week that it is taking the Den Brook Wind Farm plan back to a public inquiry to allow the issue of noise to be re-examined.

RES plans to build nine 120-metre tall wind turbines in Den Brook Valley between Bow, North Tawton and Spreyton.

The first public inquiry was held between November 22 and December 1, 2006. West Devon Borough Council initially rejected the planning application in 2006, but the decision was reversed on appeal in February 2007.

Following approval of the wind farm at the previous public inquiry and upholding of the inspector's decision in the High Court, a small error in RES's noise data analysis had been seized upon by opponents of the project.

Den Brook Valley Wind Farm activist Mike Hulme in June won the right to appeal against the planning permission, at a Court of Appeal hearing.

Before a hearing could take place, all parties then conceded there was the error of noise and that there would be a second inquiry held by the Planning Inspectorate, which will focus on noise and other issues campaigners feel have not been resolved.

The campaigners said they discovered 'serious' errors in RES' calculations of noise levels, which, they believe, would mean the noise impact of the development was greater than RES stated at the planning inquiry.

Mr Hulme claimed RES's 'worryingly defective' noise assessment had cost council taxpayers and local communities hundreds of thousands of pounds in the process of bringing them to light.

He added: 'There is still more data to be examined and RES have been requested to supply the noise and wind speed data that the review team so far have not had access to.'

Maureen Thompson, of the Den Brook Valley Action Group, was 'absolutely delighted' with the news that another public inquiry will be held: 'If it goes to public inquiry it means we can present our arguments again.

'We battled for three years against the wind farm and we had a large number of people who were also opposed to it. This is absolutely brilliant news'

Although RES believes the impact of the error is minor, the company said it was only fair the noise data should be re-examined in public.

Rachel Ruffle, of RES, said the company regretted making the 'small error' in the processing of noise data used as part of the assessment for the project.

She said: 'It is in everyone's interests, including ours, that the noise condition is shown to provide proper protection to local residents.

'We are sorry about the data processing error, but would like to reassure local people that it is so small that it makes no practical difference to the noise output of the wind farm.

'However, since the noise condition drawn up during the planning process and agreed at the original public inquiry needs to be based on accurate analysis, we believe it is only fair that we go back to inquiry where the noise condition can be openly re-examined by experts on both sides.'

RES said the project will have a maximum capacity of 18MW, generating pollution-free electricity equivalent to the needs of more than 10,000 homes every year, or around half of West Devon's domestic power consumption.

The firm says the project would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, by more than 37,000 tonnes a year, helping in the fight against climate change.

The public inquiry is expected to take place in and around November 2008.