A FARMER has been given the go-ahead to put up a wind-turbine, but questions have been raised about whether it could affect low-flying aircraft.

The 15-metre tall turbine will generate enough power for the cultivation and storage of crops and vegetables at Bower Hinton Farm and for the associated shop.

Patrick Palmer, South Somerset district councillor for Martock, can now apply for a Government grant to help towards the £45,000 cost of making the farm more sustainable.

As he chairs the joint district and county council area north committee, the item was discussed in his absence on Wednesday last week.

Members debated the application at length, questioning the effect the turbine would have on nearby RNAS Yeovilton. They fully supported the principle of the 15kW turbine, but wanted to clarify what communication there had been between planners and the Ministry of Defence.

Cllr Sam Crabb said: "I think there will be a huge number of these applications going through in the area and it may be a problem for low-flying aircraft.

"Yeovilton is one of the busiest military airports in Europe and I want to make sure they have been consulted on this. Vast amounts of low-flying training is carried out.

"I think wind power is crucial for the future, but so is the safety of air naval personnel in our division."

District council planner Dominic Heath-Coleman said the airbase had not been consulted as the application did not lie within the realms of the designated airfield zone. The planning department gets updated maps regularly from the MoD, depicting areas for consultation if development is proposed, but the farm was not in such a zone so no contact was made.

Councillors approved the application on condition RNAS Yeovilton is consulted about the site; that the turbine's location is added to any maps held by RNAS Yeovilton; and that a definitive statement is drawn up to advise the council on any similar applications in the future.

RNAS Yeovilton community relations officer Richard Seymour said: "Any application for wind turbines or wind farms gets fed to the MoD defence-of-state safeguarding team to deal with. They will look at it and decide if there will be any problems.

"Most of the time it is about deciding whether the turbine will interfere with radars."

Mr Palmer said: "The turbine will be no higher than any trees in the surrounding area and the planning team did not feel there was any concern."