February 4, 2013
England

Planned wind turbines will scar protected Lake District and ‘rob it of its soul’

By Anna Edwards | Daily Mail | 4 February 2013 | www.dailymail.co.uk

The Government’s ‘fixation’ with wind turbines will ‘steal Cumbria’s soul’ if politicians continue to come up with ways of producing green energy.

Cumbria County Council’s Conservative leader Eddie Martin said that the beautiful Lake District is at risk of being scarred by up to 400 new wind turbines which will be erected there.

The leader complained that district councils in the area, which hosts the protected national park, waste thousands of pounds trying to appeal against planning decisions to install turbines, but commonly lose the fight.

Anti-wind farm campaigners claim Cumbria hosts as many turbines as all the other counties of England combined, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Speaking to the newspaper, Mr Martin said there is a ‘very, very strong feeling in Cumbria that we are taking more than our fair share’ of wind farms.

He has written to John Hayes, a Tory energy minster, attacking the Government’s policy on wind farms.

He said that communities felt they could not stop the march of the wind farms across the country.

Mr Hayes has previously pledged to stop the spread of wind farms but was ruled over by senior ministers.

The row comes after a 115ft wind turbine crashed to the ground after being forced over in high winds.

The £250,000 tower was left a ‘mangled, blackened wreck with melted blades’, say witnesses, after apparently struggling to stand up to 50mph gusts last week.

Experts believe the winds were so strong the blades span out of control causing the massive structure to catch fire and collapse. It was supposed to have a life expectancy of 25 years – but has lasted just three.

Renewable energy company Dulas installed the Endurance Wind Power E-3120 50kW turbine at East Ash Farm in Bradworthy, Devon, despite protests from villagers who said it would be noisy and spoil the view.

In July a government agency admitted for the first time that wind farms can wipe tens of thousands of pounds off the value of homes.

The Valuation Office Agency was forced to re-band homes into lower council tax categories, confirming what most residents who live near the giant turbines already know: they are detrimental to property prices.

The move has made it harder for the wind farm industry to dismiss public concerns over the impact of their turbines.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/04/planned-wind-turbines-will-scar-protected-lake-district-and-rob-it-of-its-soul/