New giant wind turbine project sunk for £75m surfing lagoon

The existing turbine at Southport's Eco Centre would have been replaced with a larger one

Plans for a community energy company's wind turbine have been shelved in favour of a surfing attraction.

Sefton Council has signed an exclusivity deal with a developer which has proposed building The Cove, a £75m surfing, hotel and spa attraction in Southport.

As a result, plans for a larger turbine than the current one at the Southport Eco Centre cannot go ahead.

Sefton Council said it needed to ensure the best value from its assets.

However, a representative added that it took environmental concerns into account when pursuing different projects.

Southport Community Energy spokesman Ed Gommon said the company had spent two years developing the turbine using money from the government's now-discontinued rural community energy fund.

'Final stage'

He said the new structure would have generated more than 2.5 million kWh of electricity and 25% of energy produced could have gone to the nearby Splashworld leisure venue, which would have "saved the council £40,000 per year".

He added that he felt shelving the project was at odds with the council's declaration of a climate emergency in 2019.

Mr Gommon said the decision was a blow

"In terms of what we'd developed we felt that we were very much in line with their publicly-stated position on climate change and renewable energy," he said.

"We were at the final stage of just being able to put the planning application in when it all went awry."

The Cove will see a four-star hotel, spa and surfing attraction built on the land on Southport's Esplanade.

The team behind the development previously said it would encourage day-trippers to stay for longer in the town and evoked memories of Southport's lido, which closed in 1989.

'Continued discussions'

Local residents told BBC Radio Merseyside they were disappointed the wind turbine project had been scrapped.

Retired librarian Sue Smith said officials had to "come up with something to replace fossil fuels and wind turbines are one aspect of that".

"What sold this to me was that it was going to be paid back into the community, with investment in community projects like start-ups," she said.

"There were lots of positives, not just energy."

Sue Smith said she was disappointed the wind turbine plans had been shelved

Fellow enthusiast Linda Heath said renewable energy was "where we should be moving and a project like this where ordinary people can get involved is the best way to go".

The Cove is part of a number of projects planned to reinvigorate Southport's waterfront.

A new Marine Lake Events Centre is due to replace the resort's existing theatre and has been funded via government's Town Deal, plus £17.7m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and £19.7m from Sefton Council.

A Sefton Council representative said that in "securing best value from all of our assets, we always consider environmental and social outcomes, as well as the economic and the financial".

"That includes the case of this site, and we welcome continued discussions with current and prospective partners about shared objectives in relation to the environment and the economy as this work progresses over the next few months," they added.