A CLEAN energy protest group has objected to £2,000 being used in a controversial wind farm appeal. Burnham and Highbridge Town Council will use the money to pay a solicitor to fight against Ecotricity's appeal to build five wind turbines at a site near

A CLEAN energy protest group has objected to £2,000 being used in a controversial wind farm appeal. Burnham and Highbridge Town Council will use the money to pay a solicitor to fight against Ecotricity's appeal to build five wind turbines at a site near Brent Knoll. About 40 people signed a letter from Families for Clean Energy (FORCE), which said: "It has come to our attention that the council is using £2,000 of taxpayers money to fight the wind farm appeal. This will be topped up by an additional £2,000 from Brent Knoll Parish Council. "We, as members of FORCE and ratepayers, strongly object to our money being used in this way. We see it as a desperate move that does not have the support of most local people. Polls have shown that a majority of locals are either not opposed to wind power or actively support it." The letter went on to explain that a wind farm development would be an opportunity for residents to show their support for cleaner energy, being amongst some of the first in Somerset to do so. Chairman of the authority's planning committee, Peter Clayton, said: "When the application was first submitted by Ecotricity, the council was unanimous in objecting to it. We feel we are justified in lodging a case against the appeal."The area a wind farm would effect is large. It would have a devastating effect on north Burnham. It would be selfish not to support the residents it affects. "The council is not opposed to alternative energy, it just doesn't agree with a wind farm being built on that particular area."The appeal, which is expected to take place in September, will hear representations from the council and protest group kNOll to Wind Farm, which is currently approaching residents for money to help fund its own solicitor.