A BATTLE is looming over a £50m plan to build the biggest wind farm in Hampshire.

The 17 turbines near Winchester would be 125m tall – making them some of the tallest structures in Hampshire.

The Spinnaker in Portsmouth is 170m while the Hannington TV transmitter mast in north Hampshire is 134m high.

EDF Energy Renewables is behind the turbine plan at Bullington Cross and has now submitted a preliminary report to Winchester City Council.

The site is north-east of the junction of the A34 and the A303 – comprising open arable farmland and woods – and one city councillor has already branded the scheme “shocking.”

But the turbines could produce 34MW of clean energy – enough to power 15,800 homes annually, it’s claimed.

However city councillor Stephen Godfrey said they were inefficient sources of energy compared to off-shore turbines and wave technology.

Describing the plan as “shocking” he said: “Landbased wind farms are ridiculously inefficient and having them on a not particularly high feature is even less efficient.

The whole concept of landbased turbines is perverse.

“Putting them in the countryside where they will take away from the natural beauty of the area is obscene.”

Councillor Malcolm Wright added: “It’s a most unsuitable place as with most land wind farms. The visual impact plus the environmental impact on the local wildlife is not acceptable.”

EDF spokesman Jo Baron said the company was looking forward to discussing the plans with residents soon.

A full planning application is due to be submitted later this year and EDF hopes to begin construction in September 2014.

Hampshire has very few wind farms. Kirton Farm near Sparsholt erected three small 18m ones last year and a proposal for two 126.5m turbines in the South Downs National Park near East Meon were scrapped in 2009.