Wind farm will be visible even at night
The giant wind turbine project proposed at Silton in Dorset will not just be highly visible during the day but it is now revealed would also cause a substantial visual impact on the local area at night.
The reason for this is that in an unprecedented ruling, the Ministry of Defence have stated in their letter to the Dorset County Council planning officer that, should the 120m giant turbines be constructed, they would each have to be lit.
Miss Cyranne Taylor the “Safeguarding Officer — Wind Energy” for MoD, Defence Estates, writes;
“If construction goes ahead there will be a requirement for 200 candela fixed omni-directional red lighting on each turbine due to their location in the Night Low Flying System.”
“This information is vital as it will be plotted on flying charts to make sure that military aircraft avoid this area.”
This is only the second time that lights have been proposed on turbines in the UK, and the first time that MoD have actually required them.
The lights would be mounted on each on of the six turbines at hub height, which is 80m. Because of the positioning the blades will from 180 degrees of the visual field give the impression of flashing.
Chairman Chris Langham said, “SOS have long argued that the visual impact of this development on the area would be severe, and now we learn that there will even be an impact on our night skies and dark tranquil countryside. When we flew our red blimp over the site we had no idea how prescient this was.”
Mr Langham continued: “We don’t blame the MoD at all; they’re doing what they have to do. However, the developers, Ecotricity, should reconsider their position and withdraw this ill-considered and inappropriate application. This proposal was always going to have a severe and unacceptable impact on the local environment, and now that impact would be felt 24 hours a day.”
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For further information please visit our website www.saveoursilton.org or call 07968 049 832
Notes for Editors
1) Save Our Silton, a local residents organisation, now has close to 500 local, individual and family members.
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