PLANS for a 24-turbine windfarm have been submitted following a series of public consultations.

E.ON unveiled its final designs for The Isles windfarm, at Bradbury, near Sedgefield, County Durham, earlier this month.

The company has now put in its proposals to Durham County Council and the final decision will be made by the planning committee.

Originally, the energy company intended to build 45 turbines but, in 2012, it reduced the number to 24.

Since then, the layout has been refined and the potential output has been reduced from 63.5MW to 48MW, meaning the application will be determined by Durham County Council, rather than the Energy Secretary.

The maximum tip height of four turbines has been increased slightly to 115 metres, while the number of sub stations has been reduced from two to one.

The plans met with a mixed response when they were unveiled to the public two weeks ago.

While some people could see changes had been made based on their concerns, others felt more steps could still be taken to address them further.

Located near the A1 motorway, close to Newton Aycliffe, Chilton, Sedgefield, Bradbury, Woodham and Mordon, The Isles could generate enough energy to power 27,000 homes.

In documents submitted to the county council, E.ON states: “The proposed development would make a significant contribution towards the Government’s strategy of securing an ever-increasing amount of electricity from renewables as it moves on to the much more challenging energy supply figures for the period up to 2020.

“On balance, therefore, it is concluded that the limited conflict with adopted development plan policy is outweighed by the Government’s strong national planning and energy policy support for renewable energy development and the support provided by draft policies in the emerging County Durham Plan.

“The proposed development should therefore be judged to be acceptable in planning terms.”