Angry residents opposing controversial plans for the region’s first wind farm in Staffordshire have told bosses behind the scheme it would blight the lives of thousands.
Feelings ran high at a public meeting in Heath Hayes Library last night, where representatives of Harworth Power, a subsidiary of UK Coal which has submitted the plans, were on hand to outline the scheme. The proposals for a wind farm at the former Bleak House opencast mining site, between Burntwood and Heath Hayes, has caused outrage.
People living in the surrounding areas say the three turbines would be too close to their houses and scar the local landscape.
Lorraine Astbury, from Wimblebury, said: “That place is actually the last area of beautiful landscape around here. We’re imploring Cannock Chase Council to have a bit of respect.”
Other concerns raised included the impact of the facility on property prices, and potential noise levels.
Critics also say the wind farm would not produce enough power to make it a worthwhile development.
Ian Parker, a project man-ager at Harworth Power, said it was simply “the fear of the unknown” that was causing residents to protest.
But Mike Luckett, who worked in Environmental Health in Devon before moving to Brisbane Way, Wimblebury, in 2002, believes the Bleak House site is unsuitable.
He said: “I’m fully in fav-our of wind farms, but clim-ate change is one issue, peo- ple’s homes and their lives are another, and equally im-portant. This is about greed, not about being green.”
14 Comments
Some Stafford residents seem to think it would be a better idea to cite such operations in the Black Country, rather than in Stafford. Double standards..reap the benefit of everyone else’s hard work as long as it’s not in my back garden, and this attitude doesn’t just apply to wind farms. You populate Stafford you pay for it, instead of looking down on everyone else.
Siting them in the Black Country wouldn’t help…with all the metal thefts down here it wouldn’t be long before they went missing!
how would the people of stafford like to have a nuclear power station instead? fuel bills will keep rising until we get renewable power supplies. there dosent look like there will be many options now
Richard North and Christopher Booker in their recent book “Scared To Death” have demonstrated that the UK’s 165 wind farms are neither significantly cleaner, nor cheaper to either the consumer or the taxpayer. Because of the number of windless days even Britain enjoys, these turbines usually require a coal-fired power station to be kept running in the background, ready to step into the breach when the breeze drops.
However, the CO2 emissions generated by these ’stand-by’ power-stations aren’t counted in the ‘carbon reduction’ totals the power generation industry quotes for wind farms - which is at best, an oversight; at worst total hypocrisy on the part of the Government and the eco-warrior proponents of wind power. It is the equivalent of me announcing how ‘environmentally-friendly’ I am for cycling to work whilst (unseen) my wife journeys behind me in car, carrying my suit and briefcase!
The sooner we ditch these bird-shredding monstrosities the better.
what a bunch of nimbys.
How could a wind farm be a blight on the aptly named ‘bleak’ house?
Global warming is a myth, put about by green people-haters and business men wanting to make their fortunes. Last month’s global temperatures were the coldest they have been for years - and there has been no net warming at all since 1998.
Windfarms are a brilliant way for unscrupulous landowners and developers to get lots and lots of taxpayers money, but they will do nothing at all to help the climate.
I am not an advocate of the ‘green’ agenda however, if you drive through Denmark or southern Sweden you see hundreds of ‘windmills’ generating electricity and as far as I’m aware they are quite happy to have them (anything to keep the cost of electricity down).
I remember the 1970’s when we generated so-much pollution from coal-fired power stations that large tracts of Sweden had bare trees because of the acid rain generated, I personally like to see the wind-farms as opposed to bare trees and the depleted amount of oxygen going into the atmosphere, because I do not find them ugly or obtrusive but, rather find them quite soothing to watch. Do they have to be white or could they be given camouflage paintwork to help them blend in.
As for the ‘bird-shredders’ comment surely this is just natural selection, after all if they are as noisy as suggested the birds should hear them and if the bird is too blind to see the structure and the movement of the blades then the windfarm is only aiding nature by weeding out the weak and infirm.
Wind farms are one of the most over-rated generation methods there is. The eco and actual costs of manufacture, moving to site, putting up and connecting are always conveniently ignored.
Whatever is claimed as the output is just not feasible, as wind farms have time and again been proven to operate at a maximum of only about 10% of their claimed capacity. I have visited many wind farms, which on a brisk windy day have only 1 or 2 turbines running. On a still day nothing is generated at all even if there is a high demand for power.
There is a Russian proverb that states, “When money talks, then truth is silent”. When the people in power stop jetting around the world to eco-conferences, (eco-holidays), at taxpayers expense, the global warming scam will be put where it belongs. Consigned to the dustbin of Marxist ideology.
Until this country has a diverse portfolio of renewable energy supply will remail at the mercy of greedy foreign oil & power suppliers who rip us off to subsidise their own countries. We need to grow up and stand on our own two feet.
They can put one in my garden if I can have free power.
i suggest Tom Smith does more research re windfarms. Denmark is discontinuing wind farms since they have found them an unreliable power source and not cost effective. Also the effect of LDS (low density sound) has proved detrimental to the health of communities around the wind farms. Problems have been recorded between 2-5 miles radius of the turbines. Also shadow flickering is likened to strobing known to be a cause of epilepsy.
I have found no favourable comments recorded from communities within the vicinity of any UK wind farm. Still searching!
Interesting how people are quick to comment on wind turbines without really knowing full facts about them and the area they are looking to be placed
The nearest home is 640m away
524 Chase Terrace homes are within 1km of the nearest turbine
2500 Chase Terrace homes are within 1 mile.
The site is a site of specific scientific interest
The Chase is 500m away
They will produce enough energy for 3600 houses (max)
7000 cubic metres of earth will be excavated
3100 cubic metres of concreate will be poured
7000 HGV vehicle movements will occur during construction.
Environmentally friendly I think not
I think I will have to think again then. I have seen the windfarms in Denmark and thought it was a good idea. You have a strong argument Dave and it seems that you have studied it well.
People have spoken about Noise, Blade Flicker, value to homes, unsighlty towers. All of which
concern me, however, I have another concern which I’ve not seen mentioned. The Cannock area is
riddled with mine shafts. These structures will be rotating and swaying in the wind. The vibrations
generated will be passed into the subsoil. Will subsidence from disused mine workings be accelerated? Will Cannock dissappear down a big hole?