THIS is how a 15m-high wind turbine might look if it gets built at a new eco-friendly primary school.

Plans for the turbine at the £8million Hinguar Primary School in Gunners Park, Shoebury, have been submitted by Southend Council’s schools department.

Education bosses want the turbine to provide power for the school and allow left-over energy to be sold to the National Grid.

With three blades measuring 5.5m in diameter, the turbine would be on the south-western boundary of the school site, near Barge Pier Road, away from houses on the eastern side.

The new school is the subject of a separate planning application.

In the design statement from Space Craft architects, it states a noise assessment predicts the wind turbine “would be of only marginal significance” to the nearest homes and “would not cause significant detriment to residential amenity”.

The school’s aim is for the turbine to be an important part of the school curriculum, and used to teach youngsters about renewable energy.

Other eco-friendly measures includes using natural heating from the ground, power from solar heating on the roof and the use of natural ventilation.

The statement adds: “Sustain-ability is at the heart of the proposal for the new Hinguar Primary School.

“Offering a wide variety of examples of alternative energy sources, especially such a visible example as a wind turbine, is felt to be of high educational benefit.

“A display panel will be positioned in the main entrance atrium, which will show the electricity generated since the wind turbine installation, electricity being generated at the present time and CO2 savings.”

But when plans for the wind turbine were announced at the end of last year, there was opposition from some neighbours, with the Garrison Residents Assoc-iation describing it as “a blot on the landscape”.

Previous applications for both the school and the wind turbine were withdrawn in January for architects to address flooding concerns raised by the Environment Agency.

Southend Council’s planning team will decide on the turbine application before July 5.