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Wind farm protesters will battle all the way
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A newly formed action group campaigning against plans for a wind farm at East Stoke has pledged to fight them “all the way”.
The proposal for six 125-metre turbines at the Masters Pit Quarry either side of Puddletown Road in rural East Stoke, between Wool and Wareham, is being put forward by green energy company Infinergy and landowner Will Bond.
Angry residents have now joined to form an action group with support from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
Group chairman Geoff Edwardes, of Wool, said: “These huge monstrosities are next to the Purbeck Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and will be a major clash with the unique Purbeck Hills.”
Terry Stewart, chairman of Purbeck CPRE said: “You have to think about the impact on the AONB. If we are going to have these dominant turbines bigger than Salisbury Cathedral, they will be visible from all over Dorset – from the World Heritage Coast and the Purbeck Hills.”
The group is also arguing against the effectiveness of wind turbines.
Mr Edwardes said: “We are very much in favour of renewable energy in general terms, but wind power doesn’t work. Not a single fossil fuelled power station has closed because of wind power – because when the wind stops blowing they are needed as back up.”
He added: “We will do our best to inform householders, organisations and authorities about our views on this site. We will raise a very large petition and challenge it all the way.”
A spokesman for the Alaska Wind Farm said the place had been selected as it is a brownfield site and one of the few areas in the county not ruled out by restrictions including AONBs and buffer zones around properties.
She said: “If Infinergy had not determined that there would be sufficient wind speed, it would not be developing this site.
“There are over 75,000 wind turbines world-wide, and still growing. If they weren’t efficient wind energy would not even be considered.”
Dorset has a target of 68-84MW of electricity generated from renewable energy sources by 2010.
If it got the go ahead the Alaska Wind Farm would be the only wind farm in Dorset and have the potential to generate up to 18MW – 28 per cent of the county’s renewable target.
By Juliette Astrup
4 March 2008
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