WORK to construct a nine turbine wind farm between North Tawton and Bow is due to start this month, developers have confirmed.

Developer of the Den Brook Wind Farm RES said it hoped to start initial on-site works in mid August, which includes the completion of the access tracks leading to the turbine locations, followed by foundation laying.

Turbine delivery and erection is scheduled for summer 2016 and a period of testing and commissioning will then follow. RES hopes that the Den Brook Wind Farm will be completed and generating renewable electricity before the end of next year.

The company has said that once completed, the wind farm will be capable of generating enough renewable electricity to meet the average annual requirements of almost 9,000 homes.

It will also deliver £90,000 per year in community benefits over its lifetime, including a community fund to support local projects and RES’ Local Electricity Discount Scheme (LEDS). LEDS offers eligible properties within 2.5km of the turbines a £108 annual discount off their electricity bills.

RES said the first few months of on-site preparations at Den Brook Wind Farm will run in parallel with the construction of a new link road at Whiddon Down. The company said the new road would improve the junction between the A382 and the A3124.

Although the new road is not essential for the turbine deliveries, RES said it has undertaken these works as an additional community benefit in order to improve traffic flow, visibility and road safety. Work on this road is expected to start on October 5, with completion by Christmas 2015.

Rob Kemeys, RES project manager, said: ‘The Whiddon Down road improvement works will include temporary traffic lights to ensure the safety of road users and our workers. There will also be a brief closure of the A3124 towards the end of the works to enable the new link road to be joined to the existing road. We will share more information about timings wherever possible as the road improvements progress.’

Penny Mills, from countryside campaigners CPRE Devon, said the news that the construction of the wind farm was about to start was ‘extremely depressing’.

She said: ‘The local community has been fighting this wind farm for many years, costing a great deal of time, energy and money. They did not want it, but it has been imposed on them.

‘The industrialisation of the landscape so close to Dartmoor, the effect of the wind turbines in terms of noise and visual impact on local residents, the harm to our beautiful Devon countryside and tourism — and all for a bit of unreliable and intermittent electricity that is unaffordable and will increase fuel poverty. And let’s not forget the fact that the Government has said we don’t need any more onshore wind farms!’

Dr Philip Bratby, CPRE Devon’s renewables spokesman, added: ‘The £90,000 per year in community benefit should be compared to the approximately £2-million per year subsidy that the Den Brook Wind Farm will take from electricity customers, including those in the local community. The total subsidy over the 25 year life of the wind farm will be at least £50-million, all taken from electricity consumers.’

Updates about construction progress at the wind farm and associated traffic management will be posted on the project website at www.den-brook.co.uk