July 18, 2012
England

Anti wind farm campaigners told to pull misleading ad by ASA

Utility Week | www.utilityweek.co.uk 18 July 2012

Campaigners opposed to an onshore windfarm in Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast have been told by the Advertising Standards Agency to pull misleading adverts.

The ASA upheld a complaint made by the developer of the proposed 27MW Fraisthorpe scheme, TCI Renewables.

Campaigners Bridwindfarm had put together a circular and published an advert in the Bridlington Free Press which made claims that the development would “ruin the coastline forever,” and that the 130m turbines would “dwarf” those of an existing nearby development.

The ASA ruled that “forever” was misleading because the scheme would run for 25 years, and then would require either new planning permission or to be decommissioned and the land returned to its former state. Because the nearby turbines at Lisset were 125m in height, and the proposed Fraisthorpe turbines would be 130m in height, the ASA ruled that “dwarf” was misleading.

The illustration of the wind farm depicted in the advert was also found to be misleading by the ASA because it could not be substantiated that it accurately represented the visual effects of the wind farm.

“The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Bridwindfarm not to make claims unless they could be substantiated with robust evidence,” said the ASA in a statement.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/18/anti-wind-farm-campaigners-told-to-pull-misleading-ad-by-asa/