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Reagill & Sleagill Turbines

“The case against wind turbines in certain landscapes”

By CARST committee

The full referenced text of “The case against wind turbines in certain landscapes”

Many people are aware of, but untouched by renewable energy debates. They may use low energy bulbs, have stopped using stand-by mode and believe vaguely that nuclear is bad and renewable is good, but when directly affected, how do you find the facts? The current proposal for turbines near Reagill – just half a mile east of previous plans – have introduced many more people to the detail of the wind power debate. And most have discovered the powerful case against them. The truth is very few people bother to do more than scratch the surface of an issue until directly affected, that’s human nature.

The facts and figures in support of wind power are produced by those who stand to make money from government subsidies, and it is in their interests to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in marketing, and they do. One of their facts is that those living near turbines like them. Digging into the raw data often suggests carefully chosen sites and definitions. i.e. ‘near’ will include almost exclusively houses that have been built since the wind farm or mainly houses occupied by the landowner or landowner’s tenants.

Policies are made by politicians with an eye on short-term popularity, and wind turbines to the non-critical eye seem ‘green’. But when did we last accept unquestioningly the word of a politician? Why do we believe the developers delivering what is quite simply a sales pitch? A sales pitch that seems to start on the unlikely premise that turbines in Cumbria will save the planet!

The tactics of windfarm developers are to target the landowners most likely to welcome the easy money from turbines on their land and then to go to their neighbours, tell them that there will be turbines and so they might as well have them on their land too. I suspect the developers care nothing of the conflict invariably created within families, between neighbours and communities, any more than they do about the environment. To the developers a wind farm project is purely a money-making opportunity; hard to resist because for every 36p of energy sold, they receive £1. This is of course to encourage investment in renewable energy; unfortunately it is diverting funds from the development of an effective means of cutting carbon emissions or a productive form of renewable energy into the pockets of shareholders.

There are numerous opposition groups across the world , opposed not to renewable energy, but to wind energy in this manifestation. Why are there so many? Because people care passionately about the landscape, scenery and natural horizons and are outraged to discover that the enforced industrialisation is based on spurious facts, political expediency and fast profits marketed as the only way to save the planet. Why are opposition groups so effective? Because there are facts to support opposition.

Yes, there is a need for additional generating capacity – digital technology, plasma screens, TVs in every room and a growing population mean energy consumption is on the increase. But wind energy is intermittent, and no, the wind is not always blowing somewhere in the UK! Many people supporting wind energy generation do so because they are opposed to nuclear power. The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) themselves say “wind-generated electricity does not replace electricity from nuclear power stations because these operate at ‘base load’, that is they will be working for the whole time that they are available.” Which wind turbines will not be. (BWEA Website)

In warning of the need for backup generation to support renewables, Paul Golby (Eon UK’s Chief Executive) has said it would take 50 gigawatts of renewable electricity generation to meet the EU’s 2020 target. This would require up to 90% of this amount as backup from coal and gas plants to ensure supply when intermittent renewable supplies were not available. That would push Britain’s installed power base up by a massive 44GW from the existing 76 GW to120 GW at astronomical cost. (The Guardian Online)

The Royal Academy of Engineering report concluded that wind power still costs two to three times more than nuclear energy, even after taking account of nuclear decommissioning, because of the requirement for backup.

The Royal Academy of Engineering Report

Last year the BWEA were finally forced to halve the figure they were using to claim carbon savings, from .860 tonnes of carbon dioxide per MW hour to .430 tCO2/MWhr, a figure used by the government (and the Carbon Trust) in 2005. Since 2007 the figure used by government departments is just 0.37 tCO2/MWhr.

(FELLS Website)

The rural economy is heavily dependent on tourism. Many businesses in our area are reliant on visitors and the landscape is identified by 68% of visitors to Cumbria as the most important factor in choosing a holiday destination. 47% of visitors feel wind turbines spoil the landscape and 19% would avoid areas with turbines. These figures across Cumbria would indicate a loss of over £100 million; it is fair to assume that a windfarm between the A6 to Crosby Ravensworth road and the A6 to Sleagill road would impact negatively on the local economy.

(UK SBC Energy Report)

The Lyvennet Valley Community Plan also highlights the value of the landscape. The vast majority of respondents value the area’s tranquility and beauty and “The absence of heavy traffic, industrialization and cramped built up areas was extolled”.

From 280 homes who received questionnaires, only eleven would be willing to give time and money to a community wind energy project. Perhaps this is because many of us want to prevent turbines being built here. (LVCP Report Part II p.9)

The turbines at J37 of the M6 are 70 metres tall. The thirteen proposed in our parish are 125 metres tall, six times the height of the Angel of the North with blades creating a circle 82 metres in diameter.

Whilst it can be argued that beauty is undoubtedly in the eye of the beholder there are enough people being deprived of their homes, their peace and quiet and their sleep to be certain that the movement of wind turbines can cause serious visual and noise disturbance. The turbine blade tips travel at up to 200 mph. The RSPB have scaled down their resistance to wind farms not because they don’t kill birds, they do (and bats), but they now will only object if they believe an endangered species will be killed. The RSPB policy regarding windfarms can be viewed at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/windfarms/index.asp Or just click this link.

There seems little doubt that human activity is increasingly demanding power, but we do not believe the first resort should be the industrialisation of the few remaining natural horizons on these crowded islands. Cumbria is not the back yard of a few, it is a rare place to which those living in urban areas escape to restore their spirits. As residents, we care enough to protect it for ourselves yes, but also for those who can only visit, and for those who look forward to visiting in the future.

When the government’s latest targets were announced all national newspapers carried articles cautioning against the over-dependence on wind generated electricity. There is a call for a balanced approach to energy policy, with a mix of power generation. If this is so, and there is a case for some onshore wind generation, is this high point of the Eden Valley really the right place? Or are there less beautiful landscapes, further from people’s homes and businesses, on which the elegant or ugly turbines should be installed first?

We do not pretend to have all the answers nor do we expect you to believe everything that we say, although we believe it ourselves. All we ask is that you do not take the wind industry’s words as absolute fact, but if you are interested try and find some independent research!