EMOTIONS ran high at a public meeting to discuss plans for a massive wind turbine at one of the Westcountry's most popular tourist attractions.

Around 200 residents from nearby towns and villages descended on the Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall to air their views last night.

Eden submitted a planning application to Restormel Borough Council for a single two-megawatt, 412ft (127 metre) wind turbine at the northern side of its site.

Over a year, it is believed a turbine of this size would supply Eden with enough clean and secure energy to run its operations and to feed a proportion back into the national grid.

Last week, angry residents blocked the entrance to the Eden Project in protest at the plans.

Last night's meeting was chaired by BBC Radio Cornwall journalist Laurence Reed and included a representative from the developers, Renewable Energy Systems.

Tim Smit, chief executive and co-founder of the Eden Project, said: "Since the beginning, we wanted to be as sustainable as we could be. We've pushed the boundaries of what's possible in transferring from fossils to renewable energy to the point where we're as energy efficient as we can be. We have accommodation at Eden – we don't want to build something that's going to blight ourselves. For our future and our children's future, we have to stop using fossil fuels."

He added that Eden was awaiting permission to erect a structure the height of the proposed turbine on the site so residents could see what it would look like.

Resident Malcolm Robertson said: "When will one become two, two become four and four become eight?"

Residents and members of the Eden Neighbourhood Forum asked for a deferral of the decision by two or three months because some local people felt that Eden was "railroading" the application through.

Ron Chapman, a member of the neighbourhood forum, said: "Renewable energy is fine but they don't seem to take any notice of the people living nearby. I'm in favour of renewable energy, it's obviously the way to go, but you can't have it and pay no attention to the effect it will have on people in the 40 properties which will experience noise. If the tap is dripping it drives us to distraction."

Dean Miller, renewable energy lecturer at the University of Exeter, said the Government's objective was to achieve 80 per cent renewable energy by 2060.

He added: "Eden is a world icon and there isn't a better place in the UK to demonstrate the environmental benefits of renewable energy than the Eden Project."

Planning officer Nigel Doyle said the application was in the early days and planners were conducting the fact-finding stage. Restormel has received 91 letters of objection to the plans and one of support.

Mr Doyle said he would discuss possible deferral until January 22 with the chairman of the planning committee.

Objections detailed in the letters include concerns about noise, visual impact, disturbance to animals and concerns that property values and health would be affected.

Renewable Energy Systems project manager Rachel Ruffle responded to queries on why the turbine would be so tall by saying the taller turbine would capture less turbulent winds and advised those concerned about noise to visit other wind turbines to assess noise levels themselves.