By David Kerr
A star of a TV restoration programme has said his dream home could become a
nightmare if wind turbines are built on his doorstep.
Justin Hooper and wife Charlotte Seddon have been restoring the derelict
control tower at Fearn airfield in Easter Ross where torpedo bomber crews
trained during World War II.
But now he fears their plans could be marred if four 393ft turbines are
built on fields in front of the tower they are converting to be a family
home after buying the red brick building in 2012.
Mr Hooper has said that the turbines would “destroy the view” from his new
home HMS Owl, named after the wartime name of the Royal Navy base.
The refurbishment of the wartime control tower was featured recently on
Channel Four programme Restoration Man, with presenter George Clarke
charting progress of the job and meeting the couple’s two daughters.
Mr Hooper has said he is not against windfarms or renewable energy – but
said they should be built offshore or further away from residential properties.
He said: “The house has been a labour of love and somewhere for my family
to live.
“It’s not been built as a business venture. I’m not going to make any money
out of it.
“This windfarm will just be business. As far as I’m concerned it’s just the
business of ruining everybody’s views.”
He added: “The main draw of the building was the views. You can see from
the design that there’s windows everywhere to make the most of that and we
didn’t expect to be looking out at wind turbines.”
London based Mr Hooper has no intention of abandoning his dream home even
if the turbines are given permission as he has put so much into the project.
Mr Hooper said that the nearest turbine could be only 0.4 miles from the house.
The windfarm is being handled by consultant Energy Workshop on behalf of
the farmer landowner.
A scoping application has been submitted and Energy Workshop said that
design work was ongoing and that a full application would be made in due
course.
Consultant Toby Coke said: “We haven’t fixed the design for it yet and a
formal application has not been made.
“We have been in contact with Mr Hooper who as the owner of the control
tower is one of the nearest properties to the development. We will consult
fully as part of the planning process.”
0 Comments