Flood group joins anti-windfarm campaign
Adam Hewitt • Published 23 Sep 2010 08:30
0 Comments
Share this
See also:
AN EARLEY flood awareness campaign group has come out against the windfarm planned for south of the M4.
The four turbines at Rushy Mead, off Cutbush Lane, have prompted concerns from some about their visual or possible noise impact, but Loddon Valley Residents’ Association (LVRA) is most concerned about building on a flood plain. Phiala Mehring, from the association, said: “LVRA are actively trying to prevent this development from happening as it is located on the flood plain.
“Are we the only ones to see this as being perverse, building on a flood plain when we already have a flooding problem?”
Households Against Rushy Mead (Harm), which campaigns against the turbines, last week invited leading energy consultant Michael Jefferson to address a public meeting at Bearwood Theatre.
Mr Jefferson backs wind energy, but only in the right places - and he told the audience that siting turbines near houses in central England provoked “needless antagonism”, cost a fortune in subsidies and produced relatively little electricity.
Harm co-ordinator, Jan Heard, said: “Green Park is one of the least productive turbines in the UK, and to build a further four or six would be an expensive and unnecessary mistake.”
Mr Jefferson, a former senior manager at Shell and deputy secretary general of the World Energy Council, produced figures showing that of 104 onshore wind turbine sites in England, Green Park is down at 90th, running at just 15.3% of its capacity.
Windfarm developer Partnership For Renewables says the site is “environmentally appropriate” and expects to submit a planning application soon.
Visit www.pfr.co.uk/rushymead/
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.
