FARMERS hoping a wind turbine would help them remain in business for the foreseeable future have been dealt a blow after planning officers recommended the scheme be refused.

Michael McClurg and his son Andrew hope to put up a 45 metre wind turbine on their farm, between Hunwick and North Bitchburn.

The application, which is similar to one withdrawn in September, is due to be discussed by a Durham County Council planning meeting at County Hall, Durham, on Tuesday, December 1.

The turbine would be on Blakeley Hill Farm, a mixed-use farm about 500m west on Hunwick and 800m north west of North Bitchburn.

Three letters objecting to the scheme were sent to Durham County Council on the grounds that the turbine would be noisy, detrimental to health and would cause shadow flicker in the mornings.

It was also feared that a turbine would spoil a beautiful area.

The site is around 9km from the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Witton-le-Wear Site of Special Scientific Interest is 1.5km to the south and Hunwick Conservation Area is just 600m away.

The applicants, who have offered £40,000 to a community benefit fund if the scheme is passed, say it would power up to 100 homes and offset around 256 tonnes of CO2 every year.

But council planners said the benefits of the scheme did not outweigh the harms caused by the turbine.

A report to be considered by the committee says: “The proposed turbine, due to its nature, size, location and siting would appear as a prominent, continually present, singular feature visible across the wider landscape.

"The proposed development would thus have significant effects on the character and visual amenity of the local landscape.”