I read the article “Massive turbines planned” (November 23) with interest but there are a number of factual errors which I feel should be corrected.
First, the site at Bickham Moor is in Oakford parish, not Rackenford.
Second, it is misleading to state that the turbines will provide “enough power for 6,300 homes”.
Government statistics which are normally acknowledged by the wind farm industry recognise that wind turbines produce on average about 24 per cent only of their rated capacity, which suggests that most of the 6.300 homes would be without electricity for much of the time if they relied on these turbines for their electricity.
Third reference is made to “a high wind speed”, but measurements have only been made over a three-month period, from May to August, when the anemometer collapsed.
Measurements taken in these months can hardly be considered as representative of the year as a whole.
Fourth, the land is owned by a farmer who lives some 12 miles away, well out of sight of these monster turbines, and can hardly be considered as “local”.
Fifth, the “massive benefits for the local community” are hard to conceive, and for those of us who live in this “remote and sparsely populated region” the prospect of four giant turbines creating noise and disturbance fills us with horror.
Richard Delf
Higher Swineham, North Devon
18 December 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/12/18/idea-of-giant-turbines-fills-us-with-horror/