April 6, 2011
England

Wind mast shows the impact of turbines

Skegness Standard, www.skegnessstandard.co.uk 6 April 2011Skegness Standard, www.skegnessstandard.co.uk 6 April 2011

A towering 80 metre tall anemometer will be dwarfed by far larger turbines if planning permission is approved – wind farm protesters fear.

The wind mast, built last Wednesday near Wainfleet, has indicated to its opponents the potential impact on the landscape presented by four 127 meter turbines proposed for the same site.

Wainfleet Windfarm Action Group (WWAG) chairman Melvin Grosvenor said: “If this single structure has already had a massive impact on the landscape, what will the effect of the full turbines be?”

“The Wolds is Lincolnshire’s only Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, people come here for peace and tranquillity but what they will get are vistas surrounded by massive turbines.

“The quiet enjoyment of Lincolnshire must not be obliterated by a mass of industrial wind turbines,”

RWE npower renewables successfully appealed East Lindsey District Council’s initial refusal of the energy firm’s application to build the anemometer in February.

Data it gathers on wind speeds, direction and turbulence will form part of RWE’s planning application to build four turbines at the site.

If built the wind farm could generate enough energy to meet the annual electricity needs of up to 4,900 average UK households.

However WWAG believe the comparatively minor amounts of power generated is ‘peanuts’ compared with offshore sites.

“It’s a massive desecration of the landscape for not a lot of gain and the only people to benefit are the landowners and developers,” said Mr Grosvenor.

He also feels the wind farm proposal does not give sufficient time to gather the required data from the anemometer.

He added that by forming an application at this stage it the applicants were ‘putting the cart before the horse’.

Renewables developer at RWE Charlotte Healey said: “We are confident the investigations we have carried out at the site are showing us that this is a good site for a wind farm.

“We are in the process of liaising with the council about submitting a valid application in the near future.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/04/06/wind-mast-shows-the-impact-of-turbines/