A WIND farm opposition group will spread its message from 400ft up next week.

The Huntspill Wind Farm Action Group, which is fighting Ecotricity’s bid to put four turbines south of Poplar Farm in West Huntspill, has spent £3,000 hiring a yellow blimp to fly over the site for seven days.

The blimp, which will carry one simple word, ‘No’, will fly at the same height as the proposed turbines to give people an idea of what to expect if the project goes ahead.

It will be launched next Thursday – the third day of a public inquiry at Burnham’s Princess Theatre into Sedgemoor District Council’s decision to reject the wind farm project last April.

Julie Trott, of the action group, said: “You won’t be able to miss the blimp and I think it will hit home to people just how tall these turbines are going to be.

“They will think ‘my goodness, it’s enormous!’”

Julie said she and fellow campaigners have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare their case for the public inquiry, which will be run by the Planning Inspectorate from next Tuesday to Friday at The Princess, and on March 7 at Bridgwater town hall.

She said: “I would encourage people to come along. They don’t have to come for the whole day, but the more bums on seats to make our case, the better.

“I’m as confident as I can be that the right outcome for the community will be reached, but obviously it’s an unknown.”

Ecotricity says some of the main reasons for its application being refused last year no longer apply.

It says it has agreed on ecological impact measures with the RSPB and Natural England, and points out that an earlier fear that its wind farm could be built next to another one by EDF Energy Renewables no longer applies because that project is not now going ahead.