There’s been quite a bit of discussion about the ‘proposed wind farm’ recently. Some people have said that you can see the ‘anemometer’ mast, which is measuring the wind strength, etc, from the village, others that you won’t be able to see the development from Bradworthy. Certainly, from Lower Village you can’t see the mast, but then that’s probably why it’s called ‘Lower Village’!
Anyway, in my observant way, something had been puzzling me for a while whenever I drove back from Bideford on a clear day (so it hadn’t happened all that often!). As you approach the village from Bideford you run down the long straight between Silworthy Cross and the bends before Lake Villa. You can see the church and a sprawl of housing. What had been nagging away at the back of my pee brain was “how long has that post been there and why had I never noticed it in the last 10 years?”. Then it clicked.
If you look closely, you can see the 40 metre high ‘anemometer’ mast standing stark against the horizon on the hills on the other side of the village (just to the left of the tree). Once you’ve noticed it, you notice every time you drive into the village.
This being just a 40 metre post, I got to wondering what 3 wind turbines each almost twice as high as the post would look like. Well, given the wonders of modern technology, I’ve superimposed 3 wind turbines on the horizon twice as big as the post.
Imagine that view every evening when you drive back from work! Imagine just how impressed tourists are going to be!
PS. If you think it’s a bit of a liberty sticking 3 turbines on a photo to make a point, visit West Coast Energy’s web-site - you’ll see it’s a service they offer!
As I write this we are still in the throes of the foot and mouth epidemic. One of my neighbours had all the sheep on their farm culled and I had a worrying week waiting for the test results to see if my animals would suffer the same fate. The carcasses of the ewes and their lambs are still dumped, decaying 50 metres from my cottage alongside the roadway, in full view, now 12 days later. Most of my other neighbours have received D notices or have had their animals put under observation with the relevant restrictions. The last thing we need is the threat of the proposed wind farm hanging over us as well. So I thought the letter from “our friend Rob” to be a bit insensitive. However realising how very profitable these monstrosities are for their operators, it is not surprising that they will stop at virtually nothing to get them built (the Bradworthy wind farm, rated at 3,000 kW/h and tendering at 5p per unit of electricity sold could generate £1.3 million per annum with virtually no operating cost).
I learnt today that in Cumbria, in an attempt to make their wind farms more palatable, 2 companies (National Wind Power and Bay Wired) have teamed up and are offering inducements in the form of shares in a “community owned” wind farm. They have also capitalised on the F&M crisis by pushing their operations as a way hard-pressed farmers might recover.
It was very generous of Rob to offer to carry out an full environmental impact assessment on our behalf. I am sure it will be totally unbiased. I thought therefore perhaps I should carry out one myself based on the information available in the literature.
There will be no jobs created locally either in the construction or operation phase. The only cash coming into the area will be to the landowner. This is normally a rental per wind turbine per year.
Visually they will dominate the landscape and totally change the character of the area. There will be a noise nuisance – just how bad is not known as there is no method for the prediction of wind turbine noise (according to the Energy Technology Support Unit). It is however accepted that the larger the rotors, the more noise – and these will be the largest in the country. Undoubtedly those unfortunate to be nearest to it will find it intolerable. There will be interference to TV reception in some areas.
Most tourists come to this area for the unspoilt countryside. Although it is true the first wind farm in the country at Delabole, Cornwall, created a successful theme park around the technology the novelty value has passed and visitor numbers have decreased steadily. It is unlikely that any future development would create favourable tourist interest. In Denmark in the area where wind farms proliferate tourism is estimated to have fallen by 40%
There is considerable evidence from chartered surveyors and property consultants that property values will be affected badly by such a development. Generally speaking the higher the value of the property the greater the blight will be; as you go up the value scale buyers generally become more discerning and a farm house may be affected by as much as 30% if it is in close proximity to the wind turbine. Properties up to 2-3 miles will still be affected, particularly if the turbines can be seen from the property. Those houses within earshot are likely to be affected worst of all and could become unsaleable.
What the farmer gains on renting out to a wind power company others will lose in tourism, house value, etc. Unfortunately it has been observed that communities have been torn apart by the wind issue
Rob says the proposed wind farm will save 6,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. That sounds a lot. It’s meant to. But if each household replaced just one conventional electric bulb with a low energy one the saving would be 1,500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
To produce 10% of our electricity by wind power we would need 32,700 wind turbines of current capacity. It is frightening to imagine the effect on the countryside if this became a reality.