Wind Farm Sunk In Storm Over A Teacup

Energy bosses who kicked up a storm over a conversation in the House of Commons tea room have lost the latest round of a legal fight over a wind farm.

Broadgreen(sic) Energy developments had its plans to erect turbines near Helmdon, Northamptonshire, rejected by Eric Pickles, then the Conservative communities and local government secretary, in late 2014.

Bosses complained that Andrea Leadsom, Tory MP for South Northamptonshire and an opponent of wind farms, had unfairly influenced the secretary of state’s decision because she approached Kris Hopkins, a minister in Mr Pickles’s department, in the Commons tea room.

Jeremy Pike, representing the company, told the Court of Appeal in London: “Broadview was refused direct access to the minister while Mrs Leadsom was able to meet him in the tea room and the lobby of the House of Commons and remind him of her views.” Three judges dismissed Broadview’s challenge to a previous ruling by the High Court.

The Times – 23 June 2016