Turbine protest
Anti-wind turbine protestors gathered in Bourton last week to prepare for a second onslaught against energy company Ecotricity.
The business will submit a second application for a wind turbine site in Silton early next year, following councillors objections to six turbines planned for the same site last year.
Chris Langham, chairman of Save Our Silton (SOS) told campaigners at a meeting on Friday that they were doing climate change a favour by objecting to the proposals and should not be labelled Nimbys.
“Turbines will not begin to solve our energy problems and they will see us throwing our money away to no effect.
“Silton is not a particularly windy area. Coastal areas and parts of Scotland receive the most wind, that’s why there are precious few wind farms in southern England.
“The problem with wind power is that you can’t store it. You only get the power when the wind blows.”
Mr Langham said that noise from the turbines was a key issue for SOS to fight and that Ecotricity was legally obliged to present the group with the findings from its noise analysis, which must be carried out as part of the application. The tests will take turbine noise and noise from the surrounding area into account and will be checked by SOS’s own noise monitoring consultants.
Mr Langham said he had requested that the tests were completed after Monday 7th December to tie in with the end of the present A303 diversion, which is currently taking cars past Silton on the B3081 and increasing traffic on the road.
“The constant drone from these turbines can be like Chinese water torture. I don’t believe that the public really understands the full extent of the noise that will come from these things,” said Mr Langham.
The application is expected to arrive with North Dorset District Council early in the New Year.
Western Gazette
27 November 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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