Selby district wind farm plans met with anger from residents
Controversial proposals for another two wind farms in the district have drawn an angry response from residents, who raged “not in my back yard”.
Consultations and exhibitions for wind farms by German developer Prowind at Bishop Wood Farm near Thorpe Willoughby and Wood Lane near Gateforth have been given the thumbs-down by locals.
Angry Thorpe Willoughby resident Geoff Gordon said he was unconvinced the proposals, backed by the UK’s North Energy, were the answer to the government’s sustainable energy policy.
He said: “If plans for these 125-metre masts went ahead, they could be seen for miles around. It may be Nimbyism, but I think these things are ugly in any landscape.
“People wouldn’t want to buy houses in these areas if they went up, and it would devalue existing homes.
“In addition, this is a foreign company that would be subsidised in these projects by our government, even though they’re only interested in making a profit.”
Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Selby and Ainsty Nigel Adams supported the drive for renewable energy, but warned against a landscape littered with windmills.
And those sentiments were echoed by Selby District Council leader Coun Mark Crane, who said he supported a green energy strategy, but didn’t want to see the district swamped by wind farms.
But Selby MP John Grogan disagreed, and said: “Selby has a long history of power generation. We can’t turn our backs on the fact global warming is happening.
“I think in the next few years there will be a number of wind farms in Selby. However, some will be refused, but people differ in their perceptions as to whether they enhance the landscape or not.”
21 January 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
Some possibly related stories:
- Mixed views on district wind farm proposals
- Protest at Prowind’s plan to build wind turbines near Hambleton, Thorpe Willoughby, Gateforth, Birkin and West Haddlesey
- Prowind submits plans for 14-turbine wind farm at West Haddlesey
- Selby wind farms plan
- Birkin wind farm campaigners present Selby District Council with protest petition
- Forest of wind farms swamp Selby district
The copyright of this article is owned by the author or publisher indicated. Its availability here constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law as well as in similar "fair dealing" exceptions of the copyright laws of other nations, as part of National Wind Watch's effort to advance understanding of the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development. For more information, click here.
