BY SOPHIE HAZAN
AN ENVIRONMENTALIST has had the wind knocked out of his sails in a bid to become the first resident in Leeds to power his home by wind.
Mike Collins, 66, of Armley, thought city bosses would leap at his proposal to have a wind turbine installed at his semi-detached hill-top home.
But the semi-retired language teacher has experienced two months of delays since he applied to Leeds City Council for planning permission.
The authority has raised concerns that the 2.1m diameter turbine will be noisy.
But Mr Collins says he has had no objections to his plan, which has, in principle, been backed by a government subsidy to help him cover the £4,000 fitting costs.
The turbine would be fitted to the back of Mr Collin's house on Hill Top Road – one of the highest points in Leeds.
It would produce enough renewable energy to run all the electrical devices in the house.
Any extra energy produced would be pumped back into the National Grid.
Mr Collins said: "The council is pussy-footing about when Leeds would love to think of itself as a green city. What is going on? They seem to appreciate the need, but they won't take that first step to say get on and do it."
He added: "For the past 40 years I have been recycling glass, and was delighted to be able to recycle much more when I got a green wheelie bin.
"Nationally, global warming and the ozone layer brought environmental concerns to people's attention."
Mr Collins has submitted an engineer's report which describes the device as "phenomenally quiet".
He also made a £500 payment for a site visit to try to speed up a decision from the planning officers.
Mr Collins has estimated it will take three to four years for the turbine to pay for itself.
He said: "What I can't understand is other towns and cities are encouraging residents to install turbines, but Leeds is making such a fuss.
"There is no justification for them to refuse planning permission, and they know that. All they need to do is get their act together. I have had enough of being messed about and kept waiting on something as positive as helping the environment. It is ridiculous."
A Leeds City Council spokeswoman, said: "This application for a domestic wind turbine is the first of its kind for council planners and therefore we need to gather relevant information about such installations to allow us to deal with it appropriately, to be confident of making the right decision.
"There are a number of issues that have to be carefully considered, such as impact on appearance, surrounding residential amenities and likely noise levels. In order to do this we needed to take technical advice on noise and sustainability issues.
"We are pleased to receive, and would positively encourage, such sustainable energy initiatives and are confident that we will make a decision on this application in the very near future."
sophie.hazan@ypn.co.uk