The Scotsman June 11, 2009

Wind farm will never produce power readily available at flick of a switch
Yet again we see the misleading statement that Whitelee wind farm “generates enough electricity to power 180,000 homes” (”O power of Scotland, we’ll see your like again… and again and again, 10 June).

Indeed, it might just about make that total amount of electricity each year, but it will never be reliably available “at the flick of a switch”. Sometimes it will make none, occasionally a lot more and most of the time will wobble up and down on each side of that average amount.

So there we have the problem. Would you continue to visit a shop which was often and unpredictably closed and when open could rarely supply you with a desired commodity in the right amount? Of course not, and the only way such an establishment could avoid bankruptcy would be legislation to keep it open and a constant drip-feed of cash from another source.

That is exactly what the Renewables Obligation and Climate Change Levy exemption do for windpower, resulting in electricity at twice the “supermarket” price for which all consumers pay in a hidden price-hike. No-one can avoid this because of the “obligation” to purchase legally binding on the supply companies.

(DR) JOHN ETHERINGTON

Llanhowell

Solva, Pembrokeshire

The application, all 7.0GB of it, has been lodged at Daventry and the consultation period has almost expired. The determination meeting is likely to be in mid-July or perhaps early August. Almost all the statutory consultees have argued against the proposal or have been neutral about it, and almost all the parish councils have reacted in the same way. The most significant opposition has been from English Heritage, on grounds relating to the highly-valued Cold War Thor Missile site and the setting of numerous scheduled and listed buildings in the area. It turns out that, far from being the ‘least worst’ of the sites under consideration in this area, RAF Harrington is probably the ‘most worst’ of all. Of the ‘popular vote’ letters lodged at Daventry Planning, the vast majority opposed the development. Further details of the application can be found on the Daventry DC website , reference DA/2009/0168.

Chris Heaton-Harris, MEP for the East Midlands, has written to Daventry District Council objecting to the proposed wind farm.  The following is an exract from his website http://www.heatonharris.com

Wind farms and the natural environment

I am currently working with a number of local groups around the East Midlands about proposed wind farms in their area. You can read about my general thoughts on wind energy here and one specific example, in Hanging Houghton, here.

Below is the objection I have placed with Daventry District Council planners to the Harrington Windfarm proposal. If you would like more information about this or would like me to help you object to a local on-shore windfarm proposal, please e-mail me at cheaton@europarl.eu.int

Application DA/2009/0168 for construction of 7 wind turbines known as the Harrington Wind Farm

I wish to object to the above planning application.

Over the last couple of years I have become increasingly concerned that planning authorities are under pressure to pass planning applications for renewable energy schemes. This, in itself, is sensible. However, some schemes currently being placed before planners could, as the academic paper I attach, actually do not good whatsoever for the environment in reducing our carbon emissions and actually do more harm than good if you take into account visual and audible environmental factors.

Indeed, as the attached paper highlights, the potential “mean capacity factor” is extremely low in this part of the Midlands and unless our weather patterns change dramatically, it seems that this figure will never reach the 30% aspirational figure set by British Wind Energy Association.

As Daventry planning authority looks set to have a large number of similar proposals to this one coming forward in the coming months, may I suggest it would be worthwhile ensuring that these proposals, before they are passed, do actually lessen the UK’s carbon footprint and improve the overall environment, rather than the reverse.

In this particular case, I would be surprised if the cultural and historical nature of the site were not of interest to English Heritage. Part of this site was home to the Carpet Baggers and is still a place of pilgrimage for families of the American forces who flew from there. It was also a Thor Missile site during the Cold War and as such is considered of national importance,

I very much doubt that the noise impact assessment study given in this case would stand up to scientific scrutiny. In particular I doubt whether the baseline survey was properly carried out in terms of location(s) where the measurements were taken, the equipment used and its calibration and if any extraneous or distorting events (heavy rainfall for example) are included in the data given.

Thus I would like to make a Regulation 19 (of the Town and Country Planning Act) request in order for that the planning authority and objectors to this decision have access to the information on noise levels and wind-speeds, to allow independent verification of the information provided by the proposer of the scheme.

I also harbour concerns about the following matters:

Landscape & Visual Intrusion: These turbines will be up to 126.5 metres high - they will have a huge impact on the local landscape changing the character forever, and destroying the tranquility and rural nature of the area. There will be significant visual effects to around 6 - 8km from the site.

Loss of amenity: These turbines will be located within 120 metres of a bridleway, which will be significantly affected during construction. It is also used by horses and the British Horse Society recommends a minimum distance of 3 times the overall height to avoid startling a horse. 4 turbines are at a distance less than this, one of which is only 73 metres away.

Impact on wildlife: This area is well known for its local wildlife including a large population of bats, in particular the Noctule and Leisler bats which are considered
nationally uncommon and scarce; the red kite and the golden plover.

Proximity to homes and businesses: The nearest turbine will be around 550 metres from the Museum, 710m from Foxhall Cottages, 830m from Draughton Heath, 600 m from Sunnyvale Farm, and less than 1 km from Draughton properties. whilst there is currently no guidance issued in England, Scottish planning policy guidance states that “development up to 2 km (away from dwellings) is likely to be a prominent feature in an open landscape. Scottish Ministers would support this as a separation distance between turbines and the edge of cities, towns and villages so long as policies recognise that this approach is being adopted solely as a mechanism for steering proposals to broad areas of search and, within this distance, proposals will continue to be judged on a case-by-case basis”.