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Wind Power News: June 2015
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
‘I won’t let my dream of life in the unspoilt Irish countryside be destroyed’: Dad’s pledge against pylons
A young dad who came home to raise his family in a rural Irish beauty spot has opened up about his battle to prevent the area from being ruined by hundreds of towering pylons and humming wind turbines. Returned emigrant Paddy Massey, 36, left a new life in the UK behind so that he and his wife Annabel and their kids could grow up in the unspoilt Irish countryside. Instead he discovered that their town of Lismore in Co Waterford . . . Complete story »
Rural windfarm approved by Moray Council
A new windfarm will be erected outside a Moray village – after developers reduced its size by almost half in the face of opposition from locals. Councillors have approved plans for six turbines at a site at Meikle Hill, south east of Dallas – down from the 10 originally proposed by Edinburgh-based firm Brookfield Renewable UK Ltd last December. Members of Moray Council’s planning and regulatory services committee heard the firm had managed to quell public resistance to the scheme. . . . Complete story »
Valley Wind face a battle to convince councillors to back giant wind turbines bid for Colne Valley
A bid for three giant wind turbines in the Colne Valley remains uncertain. Kirklees planning officers have recommended that Valley Wind Cooperative’s plan for three 100m turbines off New Hey Road be rejected. It will, however, be up to councillors to rule on the plan when the Strategic Planning Committee meets on Thursday. In a report to councillors officers say: “This proposal could lead to undoubted benefits due to the production of a significant amount of renewable energy. “In this . . . Complete story »
Wind farm inquiry is not a case of nanny state intervention, David Leyonhjelm says
Libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm says there is no contradiction between his role on a Senate inquiry into wind-farm noise and his leadership of a separate committee investigating the rise of a “nanny state” in Australia. Senator Leyonhjelm last week won support from fellow senators to launch a wide-ranging inquiry into the spread of what he terms the “silliness” of government intervention into people’s lives from compulsory bike helmets to outdoor alcohol consumption. “If we don’t wind back this nanny state, . . . Complete story »
Isles could be spared cuts to onshore wind farm subsidies
Proposed wind farm projects in the Northern and Western Isles could be the only onshore projects in Scotland to be unaffected by the UK Government’s recently announced plans to scale back subsidies for the sector, it has emerged. Scotland’s onshore wind sector – which claims that £3 billion of investment is now under threat – had been hoping that a statement in the House of Commons by energy secretary Amber Rudd on Monday would clarify how many proposed wind farm . . . Complete story »
Tax breaks promised to Freedom residents may be over
At the Board of Selectmen meeting last Monday night, a motion was put forth by Selectman Kenny Overlock and seconded by Selectman Steve Bennett, to propose an offer to Beaver Ridge Wind in regards to their 30% abatement request put forth earlier in the year. Selectman Ron Price abstained from voting, but did state that he was in agreement with the other two selectmen’s decision. The proposed offer: 7.5% per year for 2015 thru 2018 (total of 30% for those . . . Complete story »
Wind farms – another con?
Tony Abbott’s attack on the ugliness of wind farms, and their effects on the health of some who live near them, marks the first time the Prime Minister and I have been in agreement. Abbott spoke against wind farms from personal experience after cycling on Rottnest Island. His comments followed representations by independent Senators John Madigan, Nick Xenophon, Jacqui Lambi and David Leyonhjelm. They have many stories of people living in a hell caused by the low frequency noise emissions . . . Complete story »
Protest at new substation plans
The possibility of a new electricity substation on unique land at Challoch has galvanised residents in the quiet clachan to form a protest group. Sottish Power had a meeting with the public in The McMillan Hall, Newton Stewart, last week as part of their consultation process ahead of beginning work to upgrade the 80-year old electricity infrastructure that services Galloway. The energy giant says a new substation and network of pylons are badly needed to provide “a safe, secure supply . . . Complete story »
Wind farm concerns
Selectmen last week were requested to seek Cape Cod Commission intersession in Future Generation Wind plans to construct a wind-turbine farm on Mann-family upland acreage along Route 25 in South Plymouth. Concerns were lodged about noise and infra-noise issues reaching Bournedale about a mile away. Complete story »
Real concerns about turbines left blowing in the wind
Each morning fine-wool grower Ann Gardner broadcasts her wind farm woes to an unreceptive world. Politicians, shock jocks, journalists and anyone Gardner hopes will listen are included as recipients of uncomfortable missives that outline the “torture” of living next door to Australia’s biggest wind farm at Macarthur, Victoria. Gardner is used to being ignored, unlike her neighbours, Hamish and Anna Officer, who routinely are quoted as model wind farm devotees. Last week, as the deadline counted down for the revised . . . Complete story »
