Newport wind farm a 'kick in the teeth for residents'
A towering wind farm featuring four turbines as tall as Blackpool Tower near the Shropshire border would be a "kick in the teeth" for residents living nearby, campaigners opposing the scheme say.
REG Windpower wants to install the turbines at Knightley Hall close to Gnosall, near Newport.
A public consultation at nearby Woodseaves Village Hall attracted dozens of residents. Matt Brown was among those who attended.
Mr Brown, aged 40, of Green Farm, in Knightley, said: "We don't know a single person that's for it, even people that are so-called "green'.
"It's purely a money-making scheme."
Each turbine will be 425ft tall, which is nearly double the size of another turbine being built at Stafford Services on the M6 northbound which has angered neighbours there.
The Stafford Services planning application for a 243ft turbine was given the go-ahead by Stafford Borough Council last month and villagers fear this latest development will also get the green light.
Fellow Knightley resident Ian Braine, 42, said: "It's another kick in the teeth for the local community."
Gnosall and Woodseaves councillor Mike Smith also attended the consultation.
He has previously raised concerns that there could be problems with helicopters flying past the turbines from RAF Shawbury.
Anyone who has concerns about the windfarm will be invited by REG to go on field trips to existing farms in 2014.
The firm says that the turbines would produce enough energy to power 5,000 homes.
Yesterday Charles Worth, who is the chairman of the Newport 21 environmental group, said such windfarms would be necessary to protect the environment from damage in the coming years.
