November 14, 2013
England

Wind farm firm rubbishes opinion poll

Buckingham Advertiser | 14 November 2013 | www.buckinghamtoday.co.uk

The vast majority of residents attending a public consultation event over the proposed Salden Wind Farm felt Salden was the wrong location, say campaigners.

But the firm behind the proposal has dismissed the findings of the Stop Salden Turbines campaign group.

West Coast Energy, wants to put four 2.5 megawatt turbines, up to 115m high, on land at Salden, between the villages of Mursley, Drayton Parslow and Newton Longville.

And the firm held a public exhibition at Drayton Parslow Village Hall in October.

Stop Salden Turbines, which has MP for Buckingham John Bercow as its president, conducted an exit poll of all 115 people leaving the event.

While 56 were in favour of wind energy in principle, none felt Salden was the right site, and 94 people felt the exhibition had not fairly presented the facts about the proposed development.

Steve Salt, of West Coast Energy, said: “We prefer to rely on professionally collected and presented data from objective sources, and independent studies have shown time and time again that the vast majority of people in the UK favour wind energy.

“A recent opinion poll commissioned by the Mail on Sunday showed that 70 per cent of people surveyed backed wind farms being built near them.”

He said the wind farm would bring with it a Community Benefit Fund of about £50,000 a year, part of which would go towards initiatives that help tackle fuel poverty in the region.

No planning application has yet been received.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/14/wind-farm-firm-rubbishes-opinion-poll/