Bernard Matthews to build more wind turbines

Turkey business Bernard Matthews has submitted plans for a third site for wind turbines, which will be the final phase in its £20m investment into renewable energy.

The poultry giant has already had the go-ahead for five turbines to be sited at its Holton, near Halesworth, plant and is awaiting a decision on two more turbines to be sited near Swaffham in Norfolk.

If all nine turbines are built they will generate about a quarter of all the electricity consumed by the business each year.

The latest application is for two 125-metre-high turbines to be built on a disused airfield, close to Bernard Matthews’s Great Witchingham headquarters.

The company says it sees benefits both economically and environmentally for the developments and – with the turbines having a 25-year lifespan – the landscape would easily return to its present character. “The visual amenity would not be overwhelming or overbearing and would clearly not affect the amenity of residents,” says the company in support of its latest application.