Fresh plans for a replacement wind turbine in Pembrokeshire, submitted after a previous scheme which saw concerns by the Met Office was withdrawn, are expected to be approved despite objections from the local community council.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Surrey-based Constantine Wind Energy Limited, which manages some 200 turbines throughout Great Britain, had initially sought permission for a 102-metre-high wind turbine at Sarnau Farm, near Trelech.

That application would replace an existing 45-metre-high turbine, granted permission in 2014.

In a supporting statement, Wilmslow-based agent Axis PED Limited said any visual impact would be “outweighed by the beneficial contribution the replacement turbine would make in the transition away from fossil fuels and the ability to meet UK Net Zero targets in line with the Government’s commitments”.

Local community council Clydau strongly objected to the first proposal, raising concerns including the size is more than double that existing, and potential visual and noise impacts.

The Met Office raised concerns about the impact on the nearby Crug-y-Grollwyn weather radar, just over four kilometres away, saying: “Wind turbines have been shown to have detrimental effects on the performance of Met Office weather radars. These effects include the blocking of radar data in the vicinity of the turbines and the creation of false ‘clutter’ returns which can imitate or obscure real precipitation signals.”

After the previous scheme was withdrawn, the applicants have now submitted plans for a smaller turbine, some 64 metres in height, which is being recommended for approval at the November meeting of the council’s planning committee

A supporting statement through the agent said that while the MET Office did object to the previous application for the 102m tip height turbine, the lower turbine meets their operational requirements for the location.

Local community council Clydau has objected, saying the scheme has no real local benefit, raising potential impact of the development on the landscape, the local environment and amenity, most notably noise, shadow flicker and visual intrusion, and potential devaluation of nearby properties.

There were also 37 objections from members of the public, raising concerns including location and size of the proposed turbine, proximity of residential properties, visual impact, impact on the historic environment, impact on biodiversity, noise, shadow flicker, highway implications, waste generation, hydrological implications, impact on health, the lack of local financial benefit, impact on television reception and impact on property prices.

An officer report ahead of the November meeting says that, while the agent has identified minor landscape harm associated with the development, it is considered this is not sufficient to make the development environmentally unacceptable.