July 13, 2007
England, Letters

Wind and hypocrisy

I have been following the saga of the proposed Marshland windfarm development with an increasing feeling of anger and frustration and feel that I cannot keep quiet any longer.

My property will be situated virtually in the middle of this massive development if it goes ahead, with two of the turbines being built in the field behind my property (the 85m anemometer was only about 400m from my house).

I have looked at all sides of the debate and am becoming extremely annoyed with the seeming hypocrisy of the members of the consortium and their consultants.

Recent statements from Rod Herbert fit this bill, in particular his constant reference to this development being about saving the planet and trying to extol his “green credentials”.

I find this particularly offensive when he has just appeared at number 93 in the Eastern Daily Press’s 100 most powerful people in Norfolk with a statement that his “Marshland factory boasts an airstrip which enables Rod and Nick to indulge their passion for flying in a six-seater Cessna 310”.

To me, this does not seem to sit well with a man who boasts about his “greenness” and serves to confirm what we all know, ie that this project is about huge profits for the consortium members, not for the good of the planet.

However, this is not the main reason for my letter.

My reason for writing is to explain why I use the word hypocrisy. I wonder if people are aware that Rod’s son Nick opposed a wind turbine proposal for the primary school at Shouldham.

He was concerned about noise, flicker (and its detrimental effect on horses), devaluation of house prices, visual impact and safety issues. Do these sound familiar? Are they not all of the things that we are concerned about with the Marshland wind farm proposal but have been told will not be a problem by Nick Herbert’s father, Rod?

The final irony is that Nick Herbert was concerned about all of these issues in relation to one turbine which would have been 12m high.

We have been assured that these problems will all mysteriously disappear once this is expanded to 26 turbines each of which will be 139m high.

I will allow you the reader to draw you own conclusions.

CHRIS CHARLES

Middle Drove

Marshland St James

Cambs Times

13 July 2007


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/07/13/wind-and-hypocrisy/