November 1, 2011
England

Campaign against wind turbines is gaining pace

North-West Evening Mail, www.nwemail.co.uk 1 November 2011

The campaign to prevent an influx of wind turbines has stepped up a gear.

Every councillor in Barrow will be sent a letter setting out the fears of a group of anti-wind campaigners.

And a second public meeting has been called for residents of areas affected by some of the 10 applications for turbines that Barrow Borough Council is currently dealing with.

Councillor Ray Guselli is leading the campaign against wind development in the Furness area, and said he fears if the applications received by the council are accepted, it could open the floodgates for hundreds of turbines to come in.

He has written to all of his colleagues on the borough and county councils to express the campaigners’ belief that the proposed developments could have a “catastrophic impact” on the area.

He wrote: “Amidst all of the emails and post you receive, it would be easy to discard this one as yet just another, however it is written on behalf of an ever increasing number of our constituents who are becoming alarmed at the recent proliferation of planning applications for wind turbines, of ever increasing height.

“I have been asked to write on their behalf to voice our mutual concerns and to make you aware of the situation. Whilst we appreciate decisions regarding these applications shall be based upon planning guidelines and statute, we ask that in making judgement, members are at least made aware of the potential repercussions and outcome.

“In many cases, this will divide communities, damage tourism, harm the environment, beeconomically damaging, have an adverse effect on the ecology and have little, if any impact upon reducing carbon emissions and efficiently providing green energy.”

The group held a public meeting in Rampside last week, and is holding another meeting tomorrow night in Newton.

The meeting takes place at the village hall at 7.30pm.

Residents of Askam, Stank and Leece who may be affected by the applications are invited to attend.

The council’s planning department is dealing with 10 separate applications for a total of 15 turbines in the Furness area, and hopes to have some of the applications ready for the planning committee’s meeting on November 15.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/01/campaign-against-wind-turbines-is-gaining-pace/