PLANS for five wind turbines near a Bernard Matthews facility in Suffolk have been submitted as part of the company's multi-million pound scheme to power its East Anglian production plants with green energy.

PLANS for five wind turbines near the Bernard Matthews facility at Holton have been submitted as part of the company's multi-million-pound scheme to power its East Anglian production plants with green energy.

A formal application has been lodged with Waveney District Council seeking planning permission to install five wind turbines, with a maximum height to tip of 100m, a permanent meteorological mast, substation, access and tracks and associated infrastructure on land at the former airfield at Holton.

In February the Journal revealed the firm's plans for nine wind turbines at three sites which, if granted planning permission, would generate about one quarter of the electricity consumed by the Matthews operation each year.

Plans to build two turbines near the company's headquarters at Weston Longville, north of Norwich, were said on Monday to still be in the "early stages", while plans to build two close to an existing windfarm at North Pickenham in mid Norfolk are expected to be submitted in the coming months.

The construction and installation cost will be met by a joint venture between Matthews and Climate Change Capital, a firm specialising in windfarm finance and construction.

There was a mixed reaction to the Holton proposals during a public exhibition in February with some local residents in favour of the scheme and others opposed it.

The mid-grey coloured turbines, which would swivel to harness the dominant wind, would stand on the eastern half of Holton's disused airfield between the Southerton and Westhall parishes.