Newsletter Number Three. Dec 2005

This is the third SoS Newsletter continuing to keep the communities of Aston Ingham, Aston Crews, Gorsley, Kilcot and Linton informed about the status of the 2 x 56 metre (183ft) Wind-Turbines, each the height of Nelson’s column which are proposed at Withymoor Farm. We also aim to provide some general information about wind turbines.

The Continuing Story. It has been 3 months since Mr Brown, CEO of Green Amps, spoke at the Gorsley village meeting. At the moment we’re fighting what might be described as a “phoney” war because there is no planning application. We believe this is a calculated strategy by Green Amps to create a sense of apathy as we watch and wait. However, things are now starting to move and at the November Aston Ingham Parish Council meeting, Theo Cracknell of Withymoor Farm, reported that Green Amps’ CEO, Mr Brown, had confirmed the promised second public meeting was delayed until January 2006 and that Green Amps will be flying the balloon on Beavan’s Hill before Christmas. This means the photomontage work we were promised back in September should be available to view on the Green Amps website in early January 2006. However, as an early preview we have produced our own image of what the turbines might look like.


How Visible will the Wind Turbines be? The Government’s own guidance note, Renewable Energy, points out that wind turbines present a distinctive vertical feature in the landscape with the characteristic of movement not normally present in other man-made structures, except for traditional working windmills.
A useful summary of information on visibility is provided by the Scottish Executive Planning Advice Note 45, Renewable Energy Technologies. It makes the point that the visual impact is dependent on the distance over which a wind farm may be viewed, whether the turbines can be viewed adjacent to other features, the prevailing weather conditions, and the character of the development and the landscape.(See Para 78.) All of which suggests Withymoor Farm is one of the highest visibility sites anyone could select.

Figure 1.


Figure 1 applies the ‘General Perception Levels for Wind Turbines in an Open Landscape’ quoted in Scottish Executive Planning Advice Note 45 to the Withymoor Farm site.
o Up to 2 kms away. They are likely to be a Prominent Feature
o 2-5 kms away they are likely to be Relatively Prominent
o 5-15 kms away they are likely to be Only Prominent in clear visibility seen as part of the wider landscape
o 15-30 kms away they are likely to be Only Seen in very clear visibility a minor element in the landscape

How far will the noise travel? Noise pollution, primarily from the blades, will extend not only to the houses in the immediate vicinity but also to the wider community including Aston Crews, Gorsley and Linton. Contrary to claims by the wind turbine industry, academic research has shown that noise levels are greatest within a 500 to 1500 meter radius of the turbines (G P Van den Berg, Journal of Sound & Vibration, 2004).Planning authorities in Germany and California have reacted to their own experience with Wind Turbines by restricting their siting in relation to housing. Limits of 2 km have been set in Germany and 2 miles in parts of California whilst in Denmark all development of land based wind turbines has been halted. Figure 2 shows the 500 m, 1km, 1500m and 2Km ranges from the Turbine site at Withymoor Farm. So if you are within the 500 to 1500m bands you are at the greatest risk of noise disturbance.

1 Km Inner Circle
2 Km Outer Circle Figure 2

Noise and Visual Impact adjacent to an Area of Great Landscape Value remains the two major concerns amongst people in our community. But there are other effects which must be considered.
David Moreton, whose family has owned a successful fruit farm in Aston Ingham since 1907, is concerned about the impact of the proposed Wind Turbines on his crops. At the meeting convened by the developer, Green Amps, at Gorsley Village Hall, Mr Brown dismissed these concerns as “trivial” but David Moreton remains concerned about the negative impact on the fragile micro-climate of his fruit farm. He is concerned about worsening frost and hail, reduced pollination and increased instances of the disease, scab which might all be triggered by small disruptions to wind flow. Currently there is no published research to test if such fears are valid yet Mr Brown still dismissed David Moreton’s concerns without further consideration. Again the absence of a Green Amps’ policy for siting their Wind Turbines reveals what a lottery it is. One farmer benefits to the tune of £14,000 a year rental income whilst another neighbouring farmer is left worrying over the economic future of his business. David Moreton estimates he will lose £25,000 a year if the Green Amps Wind Turbines force him to take out previously unnecessary insurance of his apple crop against hail storms and the like. Where is the justice in this for local businesses and for the local economy?
Herefordshire is home to a significant proportion of England’s 44,000 acres of fruit orchards which make a significant contribution to the county’s agriculture and tourist industries. Issue One of our Newsletter reported that Mr Brown categorized those who will be living and working near to his turbines as ‘Guinea pigs’ since his turbine design remains untried. So one of Herefordshire’s most important generators of revenue, fruit farming, will be amongst Mr Brown’s ‘Guinea pigs.’

The Sustainability Officer for Herefordshire County, has calculated, 60 x I mega watt turbines would be required each year if this was to be the sole method for achieving Herefordshire’s annual target for reducing green house gas emissions. This assumes they are operational 30% of the time at 30% efficiency which sounds like poor performance levels to a lay person but is, in fact, a commonly used industry standard.
Herefordshire has yet to adopt a green house gas emissions reduction target but the County Sustainability Officer suggests it is likely to be in the region of 1.25 to 2% pa. The calculation of 60 new turbines assumes a lower end target of 1.25%pa. Thus Herefordshire could have to accommodate 60 x 1 mega watt wind turbines each year, and every year between 2006 and 2012 to meet its targets. SoS therefore calculates that if the Green Amps’ approach of scattering their 0.5 mega watt turbines willy-nilly across the countryside was adopted there would be 120 new Turbines during 2006 rising to 600 by 2010 and a massive 840 turbines in 2012 in the Herefordshire countryside. Hence Withymoor Farm is an important test case. SoS believes it is wrong to begin such an important green energy initiative without regard for the effects on local residents, local businesses and the county’s economy. This would unnecessarily and avoidably taint the picture for those more reasonable developers of Wind Farms who are willing to pay some regard to the issues of noise, visual impact and the potential detrimental effect on existing businesses. Turbines should be erected on appropriate sites which, in planning jargon, must be the visual and acoustic equivalent of ‘brown field sites’ not alongside our most beautiful and sensitive countryside.

What the Papers Say.
Here are some extracts from what Mr Brown told the Gloucestershire Echo on 9th November in an article that explained Green Amp’s Wind Turbines will be appearing across Gloucestershire by March next year because residents haven’t done enough to stop them. Mr Brown said, “Most of the people who complained are elderly and won’t live to see the benefits of the turbines” he went on, “I suspect they are least inclined to accommodate change and to realise the issues” and in his closing remarks, “Its also the group who will have the least involvement in a long-term issue because they have the shortest lives left”. If these are the best grounds Mr Brown has in answering the arguments of those who oppose his developments we are right to be concerned that Green Amps will be the developer involved in what is likely to be the test case for commercial Wind Turbines in Herefordshire. And finally “Motorway wind turbine starts work”

One of the first giant wind turbines in the South has finally started generating power after days of testing. The 85m (280ft) structure, close to junction 11, at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, underwent 10 days of tests before engineers gave it the all clear.
Anyone traveling the M4 will know how this solitary turbine dominates and draws your eye, and is located in an existing commercial area with Office Buildings, Chimney Stacks Electricty Pylons and a Football Stadium.
The Withymoor Farm Turbines will have a much greater visual impact sited in such a sensitive rural location.
The wind turbine is visible to traffic on the M4

The Action Group leading the SOS campaign is chaired by Jane Bradney. Other members are Steven Burns, Hilary Orme, Chris Tormey and Lesley Rackley.

If you support or are interested in helping fight this proposal please ring Martin or Jane Bradney on 01989 750862.
STOP PRESS

We understand that Green Amps Ltd have employed an organisation to conduct a telephone poll to test the community's views on their proposals for wind turbines. If you are approached we would encourage you to express an opinion. We would also be interested to capture feedback on such a survey so we can build a picture of it's level of coverage, the types of questions asked and so on. If you are approached we would be pleased if you would let us know.

Save Our Scenery, 01989 750862, hvhac@aol.com