Lorry breakdown en route to wind farm causes chaos

A LORRY carrying part of a 400ft wind turbine tower caused chaos on the roads when it broke down outside Maldon.

The vehicle with its "abnormal load" was on its way to a new wind farm development in Bradwell on Tuesday afternoon when a hydraulic pipe stopped working and the lorry was forced to stop in Fambridge Road, near the Roundbush pub.

Under police escort, the lorry was one of three huge transporters carrying parts of the turbines to Hockley Farm in Bradwell-on-Sea, where a 10-turbine wind farm is under construction.

A police spokesman said: "The lorry was broken down from 2pm to 4pm and it was finally escorted away in a convoy with accompanying vehicles.

"Officers travelling with the lorry were able to organise diversions and control traffic effectively." The development has not been without controversy.

Plans for the 26 turbines angered residents when they got the go-ahead upon appeal to the government Planning Inspectorate in 2010.

The disruption this week has fuelled fears that further big deliveries, that are planned over the next few weeks, will lead to further problems on the roads.

Twitter user @Dengie100 commented: "First of many serious traffic delays due to wind farm installation at Bradwell – Shame the Govt planning inspectors didn't get stuck."

However, Michael Williams, project manager at the site, has assured residents this will not be the case.

"Our thanks go to the police who quickly and safely diverted traffic but we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience the delay caused to road users.

"Future deliveries are expected to run as normal, with a further one taking place on Friday between 10am and 3pm.

"This is an exciting stage for us and marks the culmination of all the hard work carried out so far."

Police have added that they will be working closely with the contractors to ensure traffic disruption is kept to a minimum.

The wind farm is scheduled to become fully operational by this summer and will have a total generating capacity of 20.5 megawatts, enough green electricity to meet the average annual demands of up to 12,000 homes.

Wind farm developers have been accused of "offering bribes" to planning authorities across Lincolnshire.

Conservative county councillor Stephen Williams made the attack on turbine applicants at a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee at Lincolnshire County Council.

The allegations came weeks after the council published the results of a survey into its stance against more wind farms. The results claimed 89 per cent of people supported the county council's policy.

The council pledged to stop the "unrestrained invasion" of wind turbines across the country in June last year when the executive, led by Martin Hill, moved to resist new wind farm developments.