RESIDENTS in two West Devon parishes are rallying to oppose proposals for two large wind turbines on what they say would be 'the worst possible site'.

Around 150 people packed Milton Abbot Village Hall last Thursday to hear details of a plan put forward by developers Murex Energy to site the turbines at Borough Cross and Ramsdown on land belonging to farmer Peter Hocking, of Tredown.

The plans are only at a screening stage — the developers said they wanted to hear local opinion on the scheme before submitting a formal application to West Devon Borough Council.

But the majority at the exhibition told them they did not want the turbines — they were concerned about the visual impact and noise emissions.

The developers propose two 330 kilowatt medium-sized turbines which would each generate 900 megawatt hours of energy a year. Each would have a total height of 67 metres.

Nick Leaney, of Aardvark, for Enercon Turbines, which had spent 18 months looking for possible renewable energy sites in the South West, said the scheme would meet ecological, noise, landscape and vision guidelines as required by the Government.

Mr Leaney said: 'We have good access to the site and the connections to the grid so we can export the energy. The wind speeds are very good and the turbines will be a good distance from houses.

'However, we will take on board the comments and concerns made by people, although we do realise that not everyone is going to be in favour of wind turbines.'

According to Steve Ellam, director of Murex Energy, the annual average wind speeds calculated for the Ramsdown site would be 7.8 metres per second, while Borough Cross would be 7 metres per second. A wind speed of 6.5ms would generate 900 megawatt hours a year, enough to generate the annual electricity for 220 local homes.

All the electricity would be fed into the grid and used locally by residents and businesses.

At a Kelly parish meeting and a Milton Abbot Grouped Parish Council meeting with developers prior to the the exhibition, Mr Ellam assured local councillors that if permission was granted it would not mean that Murex would be looking to erect any more turbines to create a 'wind farm'.

Over concerns about noise emissions he told councillors: 'We are carrying out an acoustic assessment.?We haven't had the report back yet but those results will form part of the future planning application.'

Mr Hocking has a mixed beef and sheep farm which has been in the family for 60 years.

He told the Times: 'The economic situation has not been easy for the farming industry. The partnership with Murex Energy would bring in much needed income.

'The turbines don't take a lot of room and it doesn't affect the day to day running of the farm at all. I have two turbines already so this electricity produced would be exported.

'The type of people who object tend to be older, the younger generation see the benefit of alternative energy. After the tsunami in Japan it shows the nuclear option doesn't look so good.'

Mr Hocking said the two proposed turbines, which would be half a mile from his existing turbines, would generate at least 900,000 megawatt hours a year each and could feed and provide 'green energy' locally for factories such as Ambrosia at Lifton.

The local community would also benefit from around £1,000 per turbine per year, and local councils or a local trust would decide on where the money would be spent.

But local opposition group, Milton Abbot/Bradstone/Kelly Action Group (Mabrake) has already collected around 350 signatures against the scheme.

Gary Vanstone, the chairman of Mabrake, told the Times: 'The community does not want these turbines here because of the impact it will have on every level of village life.

'The area they propose has some of the most beautiful views in Devon — across the Lyd Valley to Dartmoor and Brent Tor Church and across the Tamar Valley to Bodmin Moor.?It is the worst possible site.

'We must get the message across to planners at West Devon that we don't want this here for such a small amount of electricity.'

Rosie Culverhouse, who collected 150 signatures in Milton Abbot for a petition against the proposal, said at the exhibition: 'People are worried about the adverse effect on the value of their property. It affects not only price by 20 to 40 per cent but also its saleability.'

Milton Abbot Grouped Parish Council will be meeting on September 29 to discuss the issue while Murex said they would take on board people's opinions. They hope to submit a planning application to West Devon by Christmas.