THE decision to call in plans for a wind turbine at a village near Selby have been welcomed by the local MP and campaigners.

An application to build a 61- metre high turbine on land at Laburnum Farm, Wistow, was submitted in early 2013, but it was announced this week that the plan had been called in by Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for communities and local government.

In a letter to Selby MP Nigel Adams, housing minister Kris Hopkins MP said the appeal was “against the failure of Selby District Council to determine a planning application” for the turbine, almost a year after it was first submitted.

Mr Adams said there had been almost 40 planning applications for turbines across the Selby district in the last three years.

He said: “This turbine is simply too large and too close to homes. I visited the land around Wistow early in January to see for myself the site and the proposed position of the turbine and saw that it would dominate the main view from the nearest property.

“People living in this remote hamlet were horrified at the prospect of having such a large industrial structure next to their homes and so they all contributed large sums of money to a fund and hired an expert planning consultant.

He agreed with their assessment and has put forward the planning arguments that the application should be refused. His report has been submitted to the planning inspector.”

The planning inspector now has until the end of this month to make a decision on the plans, and provide a report and recommendation to the Secretary of State, who will make a final decision on the plan by June 2.