February 25, 2012
England

‘Turbines are a distraction’

Western Daily Press, www.thisissomerset.co.uk 25 February 2012

Villagers who believe a proposed wind farm close to the M5 in Somerset will distract drivers have produced a photo montage which they say illustrates their view.

The montage shows how NoPilrow believes the 426ft high turbines would look from the motorway bridge at Rooksbridge, where the busy A38 and M5 cross.

Broadview Energy, which wants to build the farm, has declined to comment on the montage. If the project is approved, Broadview is proposing to pay £2,500 per MW of installed capacity into a community benefit fund. This could mean £20,000 to £30,000 every year for the lifetime of the project, totalling between £500,000 and £750,000 over 25 years.

Spokesman for NoPilrow, David Maund said: “Now that the heights and positions of the turbines have been decided, we have used special software to give an impression of how the turbines might look.”

“Although we have consistently requested through the media that they do so, Broadview have produced nothing even though they have the expertise and resources to do this quickly. We are anxious to see some of Broadview’s montages.”

Broadview Energy has held more public exhibitions to show residents its plans.

Tom Cosgrove, the project’s manager, said: “The residents who attended the event found the information useful and we received positive feedback from a number of them.”

David Cameron risks a backlash from the countryside after defending the Government’s plans to support onshore wind farms.

The Prime Minister said there were “perfectly hard-headed reasons” for turbines to be built.

Mr Cameron’s comments came in a letter responding to more than 100 Tory MPs who had called for the scrapping of subsidies for “inefficient” wind power and not to ignore opposition from residents.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/02/25/turbines-are-a-distraction/