TWO potential sites for 100-foot wind turbines have been identified on the outskirts of Bolton.

Planning chiefs from Blackburn with Darwen Council identified the sites after touring the borough to find possible locations for new wind turbine developments.

The group of planning committee members decided one site near Belmont, in the dip between the village and Winter Hill, and another at Cadshaw Bridge, off the A666 between Egerton and Darwen. A third side at Entwistle was looked at but was deemed unsuitable.

North Turton and Tockholes councillor Colin Rigby, who represents the area in which both sites fall, said he thought there were better alternatives to wind turbines.

He said: “I am told all the time we need turbines and I can understand the requirement for them in some cases.

“But when it comes to these massive ones, I can’t believe they are an economic viability.

“A lot of the time they are on farm land, like the proposed one at Bull Hill in Darwen that got refused, and the landowners are subsidised. That, to me, is the economy of the madhouse.”

Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Browne, who sits on the Blackburn with Darwen planning committee, said the impact on nearby residents was the main focus.

He said: “At Belmont the people who would see any turbines would be in Chorley and Preston.

“Nobody in Blackburn with Darwen would be affected and it won’t interfere with TV reception. The same goes for Cadshaw Bridge as there are no homes nearby. I think these two sites would be ideal for wind turbines. These were the only two sites in the borough we felt would be suitable, so if applications for turbines anywhere else are made I think they will be turned down.”

He said he did not want people to have the same problems as those in other parts of the borough had reported, where TV reception has been affected by wind turbines.