PLANS for a 24.6 metre wind turbine in Frogmore have caused a dramatic divide between local residents.

Opinions are almost split in half with 19 letters of support and 19 of objection registered on the South Hams Council website.

Many letters in favour said that the council should be 'supporting renewable energy proposals'.

The objection letters say 'the planning department must protect the visual appearance of the AONB'.

If approved the turbine will be built at Winslade Farm and run by owners the Perraton family, who have farm-ed the land for decades.

Gillian Horsley, daughter of Globe Inn owners John and Lydia, believes the council should be supporting this type of proposal.

She said: 'As a young person I, like so many my age, have serious concerns over looming energy shortages.

'The government has set such high renewable energy targets for us to meet. South Hams Council should be supporting renewable energy proposals such as this.

'It is so disappointing when I see perfectly acceptable renewable energy schemes refus-ed planning consent, so often due to nothing more than the selfishness and short-sightedness of a few residents.'

Farmers Martin and Elizabeth Luckes, from Hazard Farm, in Totnes, share Miss Horsley's view.

They said: 'We own and farm land at Court Barton Farm, South Pool, which is within one mile of the site.

'We wholeheartedly support the entrepreneurial farming family and their application.

'It would allow them to have a sustainable provision of their own electricity using a wind turbine that is installed and run by themselves.'

But Jeremy Cole, from South Pool, fears the South Hams will no longer have an AONB if they continue to accept these proposals.

More on this story in this week's Kingsbridge & Salcombe Gazette