sheeprace:I would be interested to hear of any successful objectoions to turbines - there was a letter in FW this week concerning noise pollution. Any examples would be gratefully appreciated.
Not quite sure what you mean - there are successful objections to turbines all the time all over the country, mainly on visual grounds but also on residential amenity and unsatisfactory noise conditions.
Just follow the UK feed of the Wind Watch website for a week or two to get a flavour of the level of objection from communities and the relatively high level of rejection at local level (though schemes are often then passed on appeal due to Inspectors' interpretation of PPS22):
http://www.wind-watch.org/news/category/locations/europe/
It would also be useful if farmers also thought of their neighbours, local communities and the local economy, as well as the long term consequences of surrendering control of their land before snatching at the money.
You might find that you are popular as a leper with BO and herpes if you damage your neighbours' property values and tourist businesses.
In the case of a wind project that I know well, over £2 million in investment in local tourist businesses has been frozen for 5 years or permanently lost due to the power station application. Some houses are reckoned by a local surveyor to be presently unsaleable, and many others would only sell with a 20-30% discount on market value.
The developers are proposing a so-called 'community fund' of only £25K a year (with no guarantee that it would even be spent in the local area). Of course the absentee landowner involved would get c. £72K per year, so you might think that that makes up for everyone else's misery.
It should be remembered that landowners are jointly liable for any damage/nuisance caused by turbines for the 25 year period of the permission. Will the limited liability shell company set up by the developer still be around to clear up their junk at the end of that period? The Danes have found that recycling turbine blades is a seriously expensive problem :
'Jakob Larsen, of Danish windmill manufacturer Vestas, confirmed that the blades typically end up on the scrap heap.
"We
took part in a project that set out to break down and crush the blades
so they could be burned and create another source of energy. But it’s a
commercially expensive solution," said Larsen.
...
'Enron Wind, a
former manufacturer of wind turbines, had previously estimated that it
would cost 30 million kroner to decomission a 30-turbine wind farm,
located seven kilometres out to sea.Windmills have become the symbol
for an eco-friendly future of energy power. However, new studies show
that they become a burden on the environment when no longer in service.' (Copenhagen Post, 12 September 2008).
Finally, you may have heard of the Davis Family, they are bringing a private nuisance case against the operator and the landowner of the Deeping St. Nicholas wind turbine power station in Lincs. in the High Court next year. This is being paid for by a major home insurer,
Over 190 others around the country are awaiting the oputcome of this case and are expected to consider legal proceedings if the test case
is successful.