March 13, 2020
Ireland

Rural householders want farmers to reject offers from wind-farm company

Laois Nationalist | Thursday, March 12, 2020 | laois-nationalist.ie

A number of families have appealed to landowners in the Mountmellick area to reconsider their decision to allow wind energy company Statkraft to erect turbines on their land.

Those behind the Mountmellick Wind Turbine Impact Group, as well as individuals living in the Dernacart, Upper Forest, Lower Forest and Mountmellick areas, took the unusual step of appealing to the landowners to ‘reconsider your decision to provide access to land for the erection of industrial wind turbines in our community’.

Below are edited versions of some of the letters that were sent to landowners. Names and contact numbers are with the editor.

In a letter to one landowner, one person wrote: ‘I am asking you to think of those who live close to you and close to where these turbines are proposed to be erected. In times of ill-health or grievance, it was those same neighbours who were there who supported you and your loved ones. Please don’t rip apart that very community spirit that we all know.

‘I am pleading with you to please, as a parent, neighbour, grandparent, look at this from our point of view and make the right decision.’

Another person wrote: ‘Neighbours and families are divided. It is so horrible to see our community being pulled apart. We choose to live in the countryside so we could be closer to nature and live in a calming atmosphere.

‘I am a parent of young children. We built our home for them to have a place full of love and happiness, a safe place. This home was made not only from bricks and mortar but with dreams and hopes for my family’s future. A future that is now uncertain and filled with fear and anxiety.’

Another correspondent penned the following: ‘We hope to appeal to you as people from your local community.

‘I have a child with autism who finds daily life and tasks more difficult than most. As part of having autism, my child has varying degrees of sensory issues. These turbines, which don’t belong in the landscape, will be an imposition to them. My child has extremely sensitive hearing and what that will mean is that something you find acceptable could be excruciating to them. This will have a very negative impact on sleep and development.

‘We love living in the countryside. We love the peace and quiet and the nature around us. All of these help my child to regulate. It gives them a safe place to call home, but you want to put us in the middle of industry.

‘I am just one family, but there are so many more that have similar stories. If you were a parent, you would understand the corner you have backed us into.

‘Big companies with their money will come and go, but when all is said and done and the day comes for us to meet our Maker, will you be happy with the choices you have made?’

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/03/13/rural-householders-want-farmers-to-reject-offers-from-wind-farm-company/