November 28, 2007
England
England
“Welcome to the dumping ground”. That was the stark greeting at a public meeting called to debate plans to build three wind farms across the Fens.
As the whooshing sound of a turbine was pumped into the village hall at Gedney Hill, near Wisbech, the 100-strong audience heard passionate accounts of how the machines were not wanted on their doorstep.
Guest speakers told of how their quality of lives had been impaired by the towering structures – and warned them to fight the applications urgently.
Among the proposals being hotly-contested is a scheme to put up six 80m turbines at Wryde Croft, outside Thorney, near Peterborough, and another is a proposal to build seven 60m turbines to the south, at a site called Nuts Grove.
Both applications will be discussed by Peterborough City Council planning chiefs, on Tuesday, December 11.
Last night’s meeting – arranged by Fenland Against Rural Turbines – laid bare the flaws critics claim the wind industry is dogged by.
Chairman of the group Phillip Potts gave a rallying speech, calling on everyone to lobby their MP.
He said: “Welcome to the dumping ground. No matter where you look, you will see industrial wind turbines.
“We need to make sure there’s a brake put on this. This is ancient technology that’s highly inefficient.”
He told of how the group battled the Wryde Croft application, holding it off for two years.
He added: “Having intelligent groups like ourselves is how we fight this. We can make a difference.”
The meeting also heard from farmer Julian Davis, who said he was driven out of his home by the noise from the Deeping St Nicholas wind farm, near Market Deeping.
He compared the sound to a Chinook helicopter and revealed plans to mount a legal challenge.
He said: “You have to stop these things before they go up, because once they are up, you are stuck.”
By Asha Mehta
28 November 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/11/28/rallying-call-to-residents-to-fight-fen-wind-farm-plans/