TIM Gant (Letters, April 23) implied that to be against one wind farm proposal is to be against wind power generation entirely. While there is certainly some criticism of wind power generation, not least because we still need oil, coal or gas-fired power
TIM Gant (Letters, April 23) implied that to be against one wind farm proposal is to be against wind power generation entirely.
While there is certainly some criticism of wind power generation, not least because we still need oil, coal or gas-fired power stations for times when the wind does not blow, most wind farm protest groups we have encountered are very much in favour of wind energy - but, crucially, only if turbines are built in the right locations.
Just because generation of electricity by wind power offers benefits, that surely does not mean that every piece of open land is right for wind turbines - perhaps particularly not in East Anglia, which has the lowest wind resource of any UK region.
Our protest group, the Cotton Farm Action Group, is opposing proposals for a wind power station at Graveley as the proposed eight gigantic turbines are too close to too many villages - hundreds of homes are within 2km and some as close as 600m. We can find no comparable wind power station in the UK that is so close to so many homes.
Planning guidance from the Scottish Parliament recommends that wind power stations should be at least 1.5km from settlements. Local residents in the Cotton Farm area could be facing noise pollution, shadow flicker and other negative impacts on their health and environment if the proposal goes ahead. The visual impact of such large machines will also affect a much wider area and far more people.
It is easy, of course, to live in Grafham, as Mr Gant does, where there are no proposals for a wind farm and care little for what happens to the lives of residents in other areas who may have to live with these colossal machines.
Mr Gant also states that wind turbines are not bird-shredders, but even the wind power developers themselves have admitted that both wild birds and bats are killed by turbines. If Mr Gant would like to find out more about the reality of living with wind turbines, then we would invite him to take a look at www.stopthewindfarm.org.uk
BEV GRAY
Chairman
Cotton Farm Action Group
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