A 10-year saga over proposals for two giant wind turbines at Shipdham, near Dereham, is set to rumble on after Breckland councillors today voted to refuse planning permission.

The Ecotricity application to build two 100-metre high wind turbines on agricultural land at Wood Farm, Church Lane, was refused by seven votes to four by the council's planning committee.

David Hill, who runs Manor Farm, Bradenham, said: 'Young and old, we are all in opposition to this application. The noise, we know, will be a constant intrusion. Day or night, you cannot turn these things off.'

He added that local policy in regards to wind turbines could trump government policy.

Lynda Turner, Breckland councillor for Shipdham, told the committee: 'Shipdham is a lovely place to live. It is not perfect, but residents have the will that the best is done for the inhabitants. This village has been under a cloud of uncertainty for 10 years.'

She said the community was 'fragmented and fragile' and a conclusion to the turbine issue was needed.

But she said there were some villagers who supported the application and alternative energy sources.

Geoff Hinchliffe, of Challenge Against Nimbyism in Shipdham, which is for the proposal, said: 'We have campaigned for over 10 years against the arguments presented by an atypical group who used a variety of ploys to express their opposition to this proposal, on grounds which many of us consider to be primarily selfish.'

The application was refused on landscape grounds and the new location of the turbines, compared to the proposed location of the turbines in the previous application.

See tomorrow's EDP for the full story and reaction.