Artists against wind farms

Slay The Array Press Release

2012-01-24T08:06:00.003Z

Campaign group welcomes SW Marine Energy Park announcement:

"This must surely mean the death knell for the misconceived Atlantic Array plan".

Campaign group Slay The Array has welcomed DECC Minister Greg Barker's announcement today that the South West is to be the UK's first Marine Energy Park.

The group, which coordinates opposition to the Atlantic Array, a plan to build up to 417 giant wind turbines in the Bristol Channel, believes that the announcement has been made 'in the nick of time'.

"This must surely be the death-knell for the Atlantic Array plan – possibly the most absurdly misconceived wind energy proposal in what is, let's face it, a crowded market," said Slay The Array spokesman Steve Crowther.

"The Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range and some of the fastest tidal flows in the world.

"It's absolutely ideal for renewable – and reliable – tidal and marine current energy, which is why it was the site of a very successful trial of marine-current turbines in 2003.

"Yet the Crown Estates and RWE/npower are hatching plans to build between 188 and 417 giant wind turbines – the most unreliable, inefficient and discredited form of renewable energy – between North Devon and the Gower."

While the Atlantic Array developers claimed during recent public consultations that marine/tidal technology was 20 years behind wind, in fact RWE/npower is itself involved in the first major tidal array being developed off Anglesey, he went on.

"The tidal arrays are not on the same scale as the proposed wind-farm, but they are more efficient, more effective and less environmentally damaging.

"Water is 800 times denser than air, so it generates more power at less speed and enables smaller and slower rotors than are needed for wind power. This technology generates at around 60% of capacity, rather than the 32-35% thatwind can offer at best; and as the tides are predictable, all the power generated can be managed into the Grid, rather than wasted."

The Atlantic Array is proposed to occupy an area of 400km2, starting only 9 miles off the North Devon coast. The coastline includes Lundy Island and the headlands of Baggy Point, Morte Point and Bull Point, all owned by the National Trust, and is a haven for walkers, birdwatchers, surfers and seaside holidaymakers.

The area boasts the UK's first Marine Conservation Zone, set up to preserve a unique coral eco-system; one the UK's largest Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; a UNESCO Biosphere; one of the country's few remaining fishing fleets and some of the country's most famous surfing beaches.

"It is hard to imagine a less appropriate place to line the horizon with turbines, and line the sea-bed with 400 islands each constructed out of concrete and 6,000 tonnes of huge boulders", said Steve Crowther.

"The huge subsidies paid for out of our fuel bills, and an abundant supply of wind turbines – some of questionable quality – has created a wind-rush which makes a few people rich and the vast majority of us poorer.

"In the last three weeks reports from two major think-tanks have shown that theSecretary of State's obsession with wind power is not only costing a fortune and pushing more people into fuel poverty, but is actively hampering our long-term energy strategy.

"Hopefully, Greg Barker's announcement shows that the 'dash for wind' is over, and the Atlantic Array will be consigned to the dustbin of history."

For further information contact Steve Crowther, Info@SlayTheArray.com

01271 813844 or 07775 787579 www.SlayTheArray.com

Misery continues for Fullabrook Residents

2012-01-15T18:59:00.004Z

Sheep and lambs on Fullabrook Down.

This once peaceful spot is now the site of a giant wind turbine close to the hamlet of Fullabrook. This tiny hamlet is now virtually surrounded by turbines, and as you can read in the North Devon Journal article, (see below) they are making life a misery for Nick Williams, who lives there. Other people living in the area are suffering too.

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Delay-wind-farm-causing-misery/story-14399550-detail/story.html

David Hockney

2012-01-04T14:34:00.006Z

David Hockney is in the news again, as he has been appointed to the exclusive Order of Merit.

The Guardian lists the individuals in the Order of Merit (there are never more than 14 members at one time)- see more here.

Members include David Attenborough, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh. It seems rather sad that David Attenborough, who has spoken up so consistently on behalf of wildlife and wilderness, appears to have swallowed the Greenwash about wind turbines. He was one of those who spoke in favour of the Glyndebourne wind turbine at the Public Inquiry where the turbine was given approval, despite the fact that the area was about to be designated as a National Park.

Perhaps the Duke of Edinburgh will appreciate David Hockney's presence, to give balance if the topic of wind turbines ever comes up at a meeting.

Wind turbines and racehorses

2011-12-30T09:07:00.013Z

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=18756

Tony McCoy - BBC Sports Personality of the year last year - has halted plans to build a £2m racing stable until he is sure that a wind turbine won’t be erected close to where his horses would exercise. Here is a quote from the above article:

"McCoy has stressed to the council that 25 jobs and £2m of investment would be lost to the area should he pull out altogether."

You can also read this in The Telegraph online:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8982541/Jockey-Tony-McCoy-scraps-plans-for-racing-stable-over-fears-windfarm-will-spook-horses.html

The Lambourn area is one of our most famous centres of excellence for racehorse training. Where one turbine comes, more nearly always follow. How many more jobs could be at risk if this wind turbine is allowed, and where will it end? Long Run, current Gold Cup favourite, is trained in Nicky Henderson's Lambourn yard, and is said to be a "fizzy" character, which is why he wears ear plugs in his races. He is a typical example of the kind of horse who could be spooked by a wind turbine. Racehorses are not family pets and they support a nationwide industry, that not only provides jobs but also gives great pleasure to so many people.

There are racing stables all across Britain, and if Chris Huhne gets his way there will be more and more wind turbines close to them. After all, by their nature, racing stables are usually situated in open countryside, close to hills. Will it be Lambourn first, and Ditcheat next?

Studies have shown that for every Green job that is created, 2.2 or more are lost, and this is a perfect example.

Wind Turbine on fire

2011-12-19T20:37:00.005Z

It is good to see that there is a video of the recent wind turbine fire in Scotland, on You Tube, filmed by producer and cameraman James Alcock.

Here is a link to another such fire, in the USA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkGXoE3RFZ8&feature=related

and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfHxINzGeo&feature=fvwrel

And you can find many more examples on the internet, at sites such as EPAW

This should go viral.

2011-12-13T12:38:00.001Z

Wind turbine on fire

2011-12-12T12:53:00.006Z

Thanks to Conservation for Upland Powys for finding this video of the turbine on fire in Scotland.

This Telegraph article - "1500 accidents and injuries on UK wind farms" - includes a quote from artist Angela Kelly, (featured on our website) Chairman of Country Guardian.

As mentioned on our page about the Fullabrook Down Wind Farm, many wind turbines are built far too close to roads, public footpaths and people's homes.

See more here:
http://www.artistsagainstwindfarms.com/fullabrook2011/fullabrook-mar20-23.html

Scroll down to the row of photographs below the heading March 23rd between Beara and Halsinger. for detailed information about the proximity of houses to these turbines at this wind farm. All the photographs taken on this and other pages of the Fullabrook turbines have been taken from public roads or footpaths, often very close to the turbines.

"Small" wind turbines

2011-12-04T19:19:00.004Z

This is a link to the CPRE's map of Devon, showing the problems facing the county:
http://www.cpredevon.org.uk/campaigns/

As well as the larger wind turbines that we know more about, such as Fullabrook, and other proposed wind farms such as Batsworthy Cross near Exmoor, there are so many applications for smaller, often single, turbines that it is hard for anyone to keep track of them.

"Small" does not mean small as the general public might think the word means. A 35 metre turbine is still gigantic and, if placed on a hill, will tower over the surrounding countryside. It may be noisy. It creates a precedent - where there is one, there may be more, and a ring of these "small" turbines soon becomes a larger wind farm.

One of the most particularly upsetting of recent applications is the one for a 35 metre turbine at Mounticombe Farm, near Chawleigh. This is such a pleasant, peaceful and unspoilt area of Mid Devon. The farmers who put in the application no doubt believe that they are being "Green," having read all the brochures produced by the salesman for Big Wind. They probably don't even realise that environmentalists all around the world are campaigning against wind turbines, or that many farmers who have had wind turbines put up on their land wish that they had not done so, but are not allowed to speak out because of confidentiality agreements.

You can read about the application at this link.

Here is a final thought. After you have looked at the CPRE map, which does not show all the applications that are flooding in, ponder the news today that Chris Huhne has plans for a further 32,000 wind turbines by 2050.

Wind turbine Noise in Canada

2011-12-02T10:29:00.003Z

Wind Turbine Noise in Canada (Barbara Ashbee Interview - Part 1 of 2, this is a link to Part Two)

Note: In the previous posting, Dr Sarah Laurie refers to Barbara Ashbee.

Deeping St. Nicholas, Lincolnshire

2011-12-01T10:48:00.003Z

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/8925467/Couple-settle-with-wind-farm-operators-over-unbearable-hum.html

"A couple have settled a High Court damages action against the owners and operators of a wind farm they say drove them from their farmhouse home with its "unbearable" noise."

A further quote from this article:

"Both sides said in a joint press release: ''The terms of that settlement are strictly confidential, and the parties will not be answering any questions about the terms of that agreement.''

The case was described as being of general importance because hundreds of other families say they have suffered similar disturbance from wind farms up and down the country."

Jane and Julian Davis have suffered great stress over a number of years and we hope that this settlement will give them a chance to rebuild their lives.

To understand more about cases such as theirs, it is worth reading Dr. Sarah Laurie's statement to the Scottish National Wind Farm Conference, at this link on EPAW:

Here is an excerpt from part of Dr. Laurie's statement, as shown in full on the EPAW website:

"There are now hundreds of case reports which I am personally aware of in Australia, the UK, Europe, Canada, the US, and New Zealand. I have interviewed over 90 people in Australia alone who have been seriously affected – some have left their homes, some their farms as well.

Some have signed confidentiality agreements, in exchange for being bought out, in order to regain their health. Trish Godfrey from Australia and Barb Ashbee from Canada, are two women in this situation, where their stories are now out in the public domain. I know them both, and they have suffered greatly, as have their families. There are many others, as the practice is global. It is my opinion that the ONLY reason for this practice of secrecy clauses has been to keep these health problems out of the public view, and hence out of the view of public health authorities and researchers, although the industry claims otherwise."

Please read the whole of the statement if you can.

You can go also to the Waubra Foundation website for more information:

http://www.waubrafoundation.com.au/

Shakespeare's Warwickshire Tragedy

2011-11-25T12:10:00.005Z

"We have just heard that Broadview are now beginning to gather together their weaponry to launch an application of 5 turbines and an ugly latticed mast. They are holding a pre-application exhibition on the 8th December in a little village hall down here in Warwickshire.

Two of us (artist and photographer) have just produced a pre-application video to bring home the very deep passion and connection that we have to where we live in Shakespeare Country."

John Bolton
www.frawt.org.uk

Two Moors Campaign website Relaunched

2011-11-21T11:36:00.003Z

Near Batsworthy Cross, January 2006

The battle goes on in this area near Exmoor where campaigners have fought off two previous applications (at other nearby locations). Yet again the campaigners win and planning is refused, and yet again the developers appeal.

The proposal for 9 wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross near Exmoor was turned down unanimously at the Planning Meeting this summer - all 16 Councillors on the North Devon Planning Committee voted against it. The Hall where the meeting was held was bursting at the seams with local people who came to speak against the proposal. Not one local person spoke in favour of the wind farm, and yet the developers persist in their plans to impose their unwanted development upon the people of North Devon.

Fullabrook

2011-11-16T14:45:00.007Z

This photograph was taken on a calm clear day near the end of October.
I was up on the hills again today with another campaigner. The weather was very different. It was misty, and many of the turbines, even some very close to us, were barely visible as they were shrouded with white mist or low-lying cloud. At times the turbines would vanish behind the cloud, and then emerge again, sometimes only partly visible, so that you could see the mast, and perhaps parts of the lower blades.

There were no lights that we could see, and we could not help worrying about the safety of the numerous helicopters that fly to and fro across this area, sometimes from Chivenor Air Base, sometimes rescuing people from the sea or cliffs, or transporting them to North Devon Hospital.

There are so many health and safety issues regarding this wind farm that do not seem to have been taken seriously into account when this wind farm was passed. So many of the turbines are far too close to roads, or footpaths, or the homes of people who live on these hills, or in the valleys below the turbines.

The Caithness Wind Farm Information Forum gives lists of accidents caused by wind turbines, although as they say their list is probably only the "tip of the iceberg."

http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk/page4.htm

Christine Lovelock

Wind Power Horror Serenade

2011-11-15T15:01:00.005Z

This is a true story of an old freedom fighter's valiant stand against the unjustice of wind power, with music as a weapon.

On April 9th, 1940 Denmark was occupied by German troops. The first years of occupation there was no resistance. Then a small group of youngsters in a high school in Aalborg, Northern Jutland started a different kind of sabotage and began to steal weapons from the Germans. Their activities had no real results, but the youths became known as the Churchill-group. After a year or so the members were arrested and imprisoned for long time.

Knud Pedersen was one of them. Today he is 86 years old and one of the last surviving freedom fighters from the time of German Occupation (1940-1945). After he was finally freed, for decades Knud Pedersen and his wife Bodil have had a house in the forests of Southern Sweden. In 2009 their paradise was threatened by a wind project in the forest around their home. That made Knud start his resistance fight against this injustice against humans. His contribution to our common resistance is a musical composition called "Wind Power Horror Serenade", which will be played in the middle of Copenhagen on December 9th.

This text and the image above were sent to us by Peter Skeel Hjorth

Seen on EPAW, the European Platform against windfarms

2011-11-14T20:02:00.004Z

"EU governments did not do their homework on wind energy
It now appears that wind farms may have no benefits at all"

Read more here:

http://www.epaw.org/media.php?lang=en&article=pr3

The Danish Experience

2011-11-07T19:50:00.002Z

Denmark's Wind Power Experience: Costs and Consequences

Watch this interview on YouTube with Martin Agerup of CEPOS and Hugh Sharman of Incoteco discussing Denmark's experience with wind energy.

Denmark produces the equivalent of 20% of their electricity from wind,
but they must export most of it to neighboring countries.
Often this electricity is sold for much less than it costs to produce it, and the Danish taxpayer pays the difference.

More on Turbine Noise.

2011-11-03T12:22:00.006Z

Here is a quote I have taken from the Comments under an article to be read here:

http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/news/2011/what-the-hells-the-matter-with-you-people-massachusetts/

The quote is from a Comment by Barry Funfar:

"The fact that the effects are cumulative and increase in severity as time goes on is major. Someone siting on our porch for 30 minutes is just not going to get it. And foolishly some do drive-byes expecting to hear some loud noises. Loudness is not generally the issue. It is the special characteristics of the noise that drives one crazy."

The article and the Comments both ask why it is that developers, the wind industry, some Greens, and other supporters of wind power ignore the distress of those who are suffering from wind turbine noise.

Shale Gas

2011-10-31T05:54:00.005Z

A good article by David Rose in the Daily Mail here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2053686/UK-shale-gas-Coal-industry-tatters-gas-running-alternative.html?ITO=1490

This is a quote from the article, about a shale gas plant costing £500 million, at Hoo St Werburgh in Kent, that will produce 1000MW, enough to power a quarter of the homes in London. It is compared to the 217 turbines of the London Array, the world's biggest offshore wind farm.

"Covering 90 square miles, this too will have the capacity to generate 1GW (one billion watts). The turbines’ construction has been priced at £2 billion, four times as much as the Kentish gas plant, although this does not include the cost – perhaps a further £500 million – of connecting them to the National Grid, via 300 miles of undersea high-voltage cables.

Without the labyrinthine system of ‘green’ taxes and Government subsidies known as the Renewables Obligation, which is already adding an estimated £100 to the cost of every British household’s electricity bill, and an average 20 per cent to the charges paid by businesses, the wind farm could never be built, because it would be hopelessly uneconomic.

As well as being more expensive, the turbines will not last nearly as long: about 20 years, half the time of the gas-fired power station. A gas plant, moreover, will produce electricity 24 hours day; the turbines won’t. British windmills can be expected to generate power only 27 per cent of the time. That figure falls to just ten per cent in the calm conditions of a bitter Arctic high, such as that which covered the entire UK, causing record low temperatures, for several weeks last December."

Fullabrook Noise

2011-10-29T19:11:00.007+01:00

This photograph was taken earlier this week, on a calm day.

Martin Hesp has spoken to people on Fullabrook and this is his article:

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/mind-panorama-ndash-listen-turbines-noise/story-13697583-detail/story.html

Here is a quote from Martin's article:

"Sue Pike's bungalow is just 600 metres from one of the 110-metre turbines at the new wind-farm and she says: "It is dreadful – the main sound is like a huge great cement mixer going around – then you get the loud whoosh and also whistles and hums."

On the day that I took the photograph above, there was very little wind. It was possible to stand near the turbines, and hear the birds singing. You could hear the turbines as they turned - slowly - and the person who was with me said he could understand how the noise could become irritating, despite the fact that it wasn't loud. But I am happy to state that on this day, when there was very little wind, the turbines were not very noisy. In fact, later, I spoke to several people who live on these hills, and they each said what a relief it was that the turbines were quiet that day.

As in this article, those who support the wind industry often say that they have stood near turbines and heard nothing. What is sad is that when they say this, they are betraying their ignorance of the subject.

I can understand why the Wind Industry doesn't want to admit that there is such a thing as wind-turbine syndrome, but it is hard to understand why members of our local Green party seem to close their minds to this problem, especially when Green activists in other parts of the world such as Denmark and the USA are facing danger and arrest as they protest against the environmental damage caused by "Big Wind."

Green heroes

2011-10-24T20:30:00.006+01:00

http://www.7dvt.com/2011occupy-lowell-mountain-despite-court-order-opponents-camp-near-gmp-blasting-zone

According to the article by Ken Picard, on the Seven Days website, www.7dvt.com (link to this seen on www.wind-watch.org) one of the protesters on the mountain said:

“For me, coming up here is connected to [Occupy] Wall Street,” she says, “the push to buy the Nelsons out, then threatening to sue. We need to stand against that.”

And her son agreed, saying “It’s the big corporation pushing the little guy around.”

Npower appeal

2011-10-21T10:47:00.002+01:00

Npower have appealed against
North Devon District Council's decision on Batsworthy Cross.

At the fanatastically supported meeting at Bishops Nympton last May,
NDDC unanimously refused planning permission for npowers proposal
to build 9 x 103m tall wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross.

Npower have now challenged this decision.
This means there will be a Public Inquiry as there was for Bickham Moor and Three Moors.

And just in the last twenty four hours, on BBC Spotlight, Merlin Hyman said there wouldn't be more large onshore wind farms in the region. What does "large" mean, then?

Fullabrook Noise on BBC Spotlight

2011-10-21T08:59:00.002+01:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pfr1

There is a clip at the beginning, more later on in the programme (timings will be posted shortly)

Support This Demonstration

2011-10-20T17:46:00.003+01:00

Press release by: Windfarm Action Group

www.windfarmaction.com

To publicise the planned demonstration on 22^nd October at 12.30pm at Eden Court Theatre Inverness to show the Scottish National Party the strength of public feeling against windfarm development.

For information on the demonstration please contact Lyndsey Ward on 01463 782997 or 07899 035135

For information on the technical content of this press release please contact Stuart Young on 01847 851813 or 07717 295235

PRESS RELEASE

QUESTION: Why demonstrate?

ANSWER: Because nobody is listening!

1. People are becoming aware that wind energy is already costly and this cost will grow as more and more turbines are constructed. This affects every single person in the land whether they can afford it or not. The cost of the Renewables Obligation which is funded through consumer’s electricity bills is an even more universal burden than Maggie Thatcher’s Poll Tax.

2. The Renewables Obligation puts about 5.5p on to the bill for a unit of wind generated electricity before the cost of the actual electricity is added, and before adding the cost of major transmission upgrades which are necessary to allow the use of wind generation. The Beauly to Denny transmission upgrade is currently estimated to cost £600M (an almost 100% increase and it has only just started) and the cost of all the other transmission upgrades needed to take our surplus wind generation across the Scotland-England Border and beyond to undefined markets in England or continental Europe has yet to be calculated. And there is no guarantee that England or Europe will need or want our surplus power when it is windy here.

3. Wind energy is the only energy source which can be completely absent at any point in time in the future and we have no control over it. At midday on 14^th September, the 3696MW installed wind capacity which National Grid meters ( 2327MW Scottish onshore, 90MW Scottish offshore, 1279MW English offshore) was generating 2102MW. At midday on 15^th September, the same 3696MW was generating 23MW, effectively zero. If any other fuel was delivered so sporadically, we would go to war to protect our supplies.

4. Thirteen Scottish wind farms have so far been paid compensation of just under £9.5M to stop generating when wind was high and demand was low because there was no available market for it. £5M was paid in September alone. The £9.5M was paid in compensation for actual losses of £2.4M, such was the bargaining power of the wind generators. These costs, and the inevitably greater future costs, will filter through to our electricity bills.

5. There is now no Legislation or Planning Guidance which specifically protects a person’s residential amenity. Whole communities have lived for years under the threat of wind farm development and seen the robust Planning Protections which once existed to support them being eroded to the point that now bats and geese have more worth than people.

6. Most wind farms that have been consented have applied for an extension, and the general planning view is that if a place is already trashed, then a bit more trashing will be neither here nor there. And the misery starts all over again. Only the Scottish Government can restore the wellbeing of Scotland’s people to its rightful place in the Planning Hierarchy

7. Five and a half million homes are now estimated to be in fuel poverty. Our Governments can do little about the base cost of fuel, but to ease the burden, Westminster can abolish the Renewables Obligation and Holyrood can abandon its “ambitious” targets for generation by Renewables (which, and it is doubtful if they are remotely achievable, would be delivered mostly by windpower ).

QUESTION: In the face of the above, should we continue to allow the devastation wind farm development has on communities, people’s lives and their health, their shrinking finances, the environment and wildlife, or should we pause, reflect, and think again.

ANSWER: Pause, Reflect, and Think Again

The poverty of Britain's energy debate

2011-10-17T12:10:00.004+01:00

Fraser Nelson

A must read:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7318578/the-poverty-of-britains-energy-debate.thtml

Here is how it starts:

"How big does Shale have to get before our policymakers wake up to its implications? There is an Energy Summit in No.10 today where Chris Huhne wants to focus on the need “to help consumers save money on their gas and electricity bills”. A preview interview on the Today programme underlined the dire situation. First, Huhne was not asked about how his own green regulations have massively contributed to the problem. Then, the managing director of British Gas was invited on to say that “unless someone discovers huge amounts of gas and imports it into the UK…”. And, bafflingly, no-one mentioned the small fact that one of BG’s rivals recently discovered 200 trillion cubic feet of gas near Blackpool. As Matt Ridley says in this week’s Spectator, that’s enough to keep the entire British economy going for many decades. And it doesn’t even need importing."

Do read the article, including the quotes from Matt Ridley's article as well.

It isn't just our policy makers, though, what about the BBC? On Friday they had Will Self "In praise of wind turbines" on Sunday Countryfile, which was about as biased as it could possibly be in favour of wind, and the Today Programme was no better.

Single turbines

2011-10-14T19:52:00.008+01:00

First there were 22 turbines at Fullabrook, now there will be two more close by, which makes 24 in the area.

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Wind-turbines-ahead-despite-widespread-protest/story-13545925-detail/story.html

http://www.cpredevon.org.uk/details/mullacott-cross-inductrial-estate-54m.html

http://www.cpredevon.org.uk/details/79.6m-single-wind-turbine.html

Paul Bloomer

2011-10-08T19:10:00.007+01:00

We are pleased to announce a new page on the Artists Against Wind Farms website.
Paul Bloomer is an artist who lives in the Shetlands, and on his page you can see his Windfarm Series of woodcuts and read the words he has written to express his feelings about the 127 giant wind turbines that threaten to destroy the beauty and tranquility of the island on which he lives.
There are also links to an Exhibition at the Vaila Fine Art Gallery, in Lerwick, where his work was on show with work by a number of other artists who shared his feelings about the proposed wind farm.
This is his page:
http://www.artistsagainstwindfarms.com/scotland/paul-bloomer.html

Living in a Power Station

2011-10-07T19:49:00.003+01:00

Video highlighting the problems caused when Wind Power Plants are constructed to close to residential homes.
This video was found originally on http://its-in-the-wind.blogspot.com/

It was made by David Baldwin, who lives approximately 950 metres away from the nearest turbine at Hadyard Hill (Ayrshire).
He had been in favour of the wind turbines before the wind farm was built and he experienced the noise and shadow flicker.

National Trust Petition

2011-10-06T13:46:00.003+01:00

Please sign the National Trust petition, before October 12th, if you are concerned about the proposed changes to the planning system.

https://www.planningforpeople.org.uk/

Properties reducing in value

2011-10-01T15:34:00.003+01:00

Ontario wind power bringing down property values

By John Nicol and Dave Seglins, CBC News.

Here is an excerpt about the Power Company buying up properties and then selling them on at a loss:

"Canadian Hydro Developers bought out four different owners for $500,000, $350,000, $305,000 and $302,670. The company then resold each property, respectively, for $288,400, $175,000, $278,000 and $215,000.

In total, Canadian Hydro absorbed just over half a million dollars in losses on those four properties.

The new buyers were required to sign agreements acknowledging that the wind turbine facilities may affect the buyer’s “living environment” and that the power company will not be responsible for or liable from any of the buyer’s “complaints, claims, demands, suits, actions or causes of action of every kind known or unknown which may arise directly or indirectly from the Transferee’s wind turbine facilities.”"

We found the link to this article on www.wind-watch.org

Struan Stevenson - Part 2

2011-09-30T19:11:00.005+01:00

Here is Part 2 of MEP Struan Stevensons speech.

Straun Stevenson

2011-09-29T15:12:00.005+01:00

Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson has lent his support to a campaign by Communities Against Turbines (Scotland) against the scandal of industrial wind developments in Scotland. Speaking at Ballantrae Community Centre on Tuesday 9th August 2011, Mr Stevenson delivered the speech which can be seen on YouTube, see Part 1 above:

How good it is to see a politician who is truly not afraid to speak up against vested interests!

For more information about CATS, go to this website:

http://www.communitiesagainstturbinesscotland.com/

David Hockney

2011-09-25T18:52:00.012+01:00

"World famous artist David Hockney has slammed plans to build “ugly” wind farms around Bridlington, which he thinks will spoil the area’s countryside.

Speaking exclusively to the Free Press, Mr Hockney – who lives and works in Bridlington – urged people to “say no” to the turbine plans."

You only have to look at his paintings of trees to know that he has a deep connection with the land on which they grow: they are rooted in Yorkshire soil.

Read more from the Bridlington Free Press article here:

http://www.bridlingtonfreepress.co.uk/

And for links to articles about his latest Exhibition:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/sep/08/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/sep/13/

For more about wind farms in Yorkshire go to this excellent website:
http://www.southdalewindfarm.co.uk/

Yet more on the Atlantic Array

2011-09-24T19:50:00.004+01:00

Looking out to sea, from Baggy Point, near Croyde, in North Devon.

We have uploaded a page today with more information about the Atlantic Array, including links to the developer's proposals, and press reports from both sides of the Bristol Channel.
Local newspapers in North Devon are already receiving numerous letters of concern about these proposals, and concern is mounting too across in Wales.
When the Fullabrook Down Wind farm was proposed there was much local opposition against it, but at the same time, there were also many members of the public who took little interest. Perhaps they had seen small turbines in Cornwall, perhaps they imagined the turbines would be somewhere up on the hills, out of sight. Now people understand how big modern turbines are, and they realise that 4oo (or more) giant turbines out at sea will not be an insignificant sight.

Fullabrook Turbine Noise

2011-09-22T17:24:00.006+01:00

This video was made in August without a proper microphone, and I was not able to record the sound properly. I was however well aware that turbine noise was already becoming a problem for residents living "in the wind farm".
Now some residents have gone public about this, and you can read what they have to say here:

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Turbine-noise-destroying-lives/story-13380064-detail/story.html

BBC on Energy Prices

2011-09-19T18:08:00.006+01:00

This link includes a video which is worth watching. There is clip near the end showing an offshore wind farm which is enough to give shudders down the spine of anyone who thinks offshore is visually acceptable.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14965099

More about the Atlantic Array

2011-09-16T18:16:00.008+01:00

Baggy Point, between Croyde and Woolacombe, North Devon, with Lundy on the horizon at the left.

I came back on Thursday (after a trip to the excellent Wind Farm Conference in Cheshire, organised by Conservation of Upland Powys) and went out to Baggy Point, one of North Devon's most famous landmarks. It wasn't the best of afternoons, the sky was overcast, and visibility was not as good as it can be, but from this spot I could see Dartmoor to the south, the Welsh coastline to the north, and the hills of Exmoor to the the east. Sadly I could also see the three turbines near Great Torrington on the hills to the South, in front of Dartmoor, and behind me there were the 22 Fullabrook turbines. If the Atlantic Array is built, there will be hundreds of gigantic wind turbines stretching across this blue horizon.

There are many who say "Offshore not onshore" but the truth is that offshore wind turbines are as environmentally damaging, as visually disturbing, and even more costly than the onshore ones. It is true that if they are far enough away, they don't cause a noise nuisance to human neighbours, but what their noise will do to whales, to porpoises, to seals, and all other marine animals and fish, is something that all of us who care about wildlife should be deeply concerned about.

Read more about last weekend's Exhibition here:

http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/first_look_at_giant_wind_farm_plans_1_1020646

Reminder about the Atlantic Array

2011-09-11T18:44:00.000+01:00

Reminder:

Public Exhibitions in North Devon

North Devon (this table is copied from the RWE npower renewable website, see link below)
Date Time Venue
10th September 10am - 5pm Abbotsham Village Hall, Abbotsham, Bideford, EX39 5AP
11th September 11am – 4pm Lovacott Village Hall, 5 Lower Lovacott, Newton Tracey, Barnstaple, EX31 3QH

15th September 12pm - 8pm The Royal Britannia, Broad Street, Ilfracombe, EX34 9EE
16th September 12pm – 8pm Croyde Village Hall, 1 Jones's Hill, Croyde, EX33 1LX
17th September 10am - 5pm The Castle Centre, 25 Castle Street, Barnstaple, EX31 1DR
18th September 11am – 4pm Bideford College, Abbotsham Road, Bideford, EX39 3AR

Consulation begins in South Wales on September 21st, details on the RWE npower renewables website:

http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/969472/rwe-npower-renewables/sites/projects-in-development/wind/atlantic-array-offshore-wind-farm/consultation/

Abbotsham this morning

2011-09-10T12:24:00.003+01:00

Abbotsham Church.

Abbotsham is a village in North Devon, south west of Bideford and close to the Cornborough ranges on the south west coast path. The Atlantic Array cables are due to make landfall across these cliffs, and the cables will come inland through the Parish of Abbotsham.
The village hall was the chosen location for the first of RWE npower renewables Public Exhibitions, as part of the Consultation Process for the Atlantic Array.
I went there this morning, with campaigners Joanne and Jim Bell, and we were surprised at the size of the crowd. Now that Fullabrook is built, people in Devon are waking up to the reality of industrial wind power, and most of the people that we spoke to in the Hall were shocked by the images on display. We ourselves had not realised quite how visible this giant wind farm would be, from most of the North Devon Coast, from Baggy Point, from Croyde,, from Putsborough Beach, from all the beauty spots that are Devon's greatest asset.

More to come.

More on the Atlantic Array

2011-09-08T22:15:00.006+01:00

Morte Point, on the North Devon Coast.

At the moment, from Morte Point in North Devon you can see Lundy, and the sun setting over the Atlantic Ocean. If the Atlantic Array goes ahead, you will be able to see up 250 wind turbines. They will be about 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) away. To put that in context, the 22 Fullabrook turbines can be seen from Yes Tor on Dartmoor (approx 40 km, 25 miles, away)

Public Exhibitions are to be held this weekend in North Devon, on Saturday 10th September from 10am to 5pm. at Abbotsham Village Hall, Abbotsham, Bideford, EX39 5AP , and on Sunday 11th September at Lovacott Village Hall, 5 Lower Lovacott, Newton Tracey, Barnstaple, EX31 3QH, from 11am to 4pm.

More details can be found on the RWE npower renewables website here:

http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/969472/rwe-npower-renewables/sites/projects-in-development/wind/atlantic-array-offshore-wind-farm/consultation/

It would be nice to think that the Greens would be there to speak up for the whales and porpoises and other wild life that will be threatened by this proposal (ready to set sail in the Rainbow Warrior once again?) Somehow that doesn't seem too likely.

"Some people think nuclear power stations are beautiful..."

2011-09-02T16:01:00.003+01:00

Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station, seen from the hill above Minehead, Somerset, yesterday evening.

News from Maine

2011-08-31T07:26:00.003+01:00

From Maine:

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/26/protesters-target-shumlin-during-lowell-mountain-rally/

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/26/protest-opposes-maine-wind-projects/

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/26/wind-activists-protest-roxbury-project/

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/26/wind-power-protesters-tackle-montpelier/

and Cambridgeshire

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/26/end-of-plan-for-wind-farms-on-council-land/

Matthew Sinclair

2011-08-28T20:17:00.001+01:00

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/266771?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TPA+Bulletin+260818

Two quotes from the article:

"The renewables obligation requires energy companies to source a certain share of electricity from wind turbines, solar panels and other renewables. As they are more expensive than coal and gas it means higher prices. It cost £1.1billion in 2009-10 and is rising. Over this decade analysts at Citigroup have found that Britain needs to invest more than Germany, France and Spain put together to meet environmental targets and that paying for this investment will mean dual fuel bills rising more than 50 per cent above inflation."

"The poor and elderly will be particularly hard hit as they spend a bigger share of their money on fuel. David Cameron said he wouldn’t balance the Budget on the backs of the poorest people in the world but he is making some of the poorest people in Britain pay for a climate policy that will not save the planet."

Map of North and Mid Devon

2011-08-26T09:46:00.007+01:00

View North and Mid Devon Wind Turbine Sites in a larger map

Here is a link to a pdf produced by rwe-npower renewables showing the exact route of the Atlantic Array cable from landfall to sub-station. This is a pdf, and the map is on Page 3. Page 2 shows the location of the windfarm in the sea - it will be visible from Mynydd y Gwair (Swansea) and Ilfracombe, Lundy, and much of the North Devon Coast. A point worth making is the fact that the 22 Fullabrook turbines are visible from Dartmoor: the Atlantic Array could have anything between 188 and 417 turbines, and will be visible for many miles.

Just to give you an idea of what is happening to Devon... on the map above use arrows to zoom out, this view is focused on the Alverdiscott area (see below for links to more news about sub-station and Atlantic Array)

Other news:
A single turbine has just been approved near Bishops Nympton (not yet on this map)... so many turbines are coming it is hard to keep track of them.

The Atlantic Array

2011-08-26T09:29:00.003+01:00

Some links:

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Windfarm-sea-cost-pound-4-5-billion/story-13155357-detail/story.html

http://www.alverdiscott-huntshaw-parish.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=6949

http://projectmindwake.blogspot.com/2011/08/giant-cables-to-link-sub-station-to.html

more to come

More about George West

2011-08-22T21:28:00.007+01:00

Yesterday's link concerning George West was an old one: here is a link to his updated page on our website, with a couple of examples of George's paintings, and a photograph of George himself.

There is also a link on his page to the 2009 Nant y Moch protest. It was George who designed the poster for it ( seen being held by Angela Kelly in our previous posting, below.)

Sadly the turbines at Crimp, near Morwenstow (the subject of one of his paintings) in North Cornwall are now up and running, and as usually happens, there are proposals for more turbines in that area.

This is a link to a map of the North Cornwall and North West Devon area, showing proposed and operational wind farms.

The Sunday Telegraph today

2011-08-21T10:39:00.007+01:00

Chairman of Country Guardian, and artist on our website, Angela Kelly at the 2009 Nant y Moch protest, holding a poster designed by another of our artists, George West.
Angela is mentioned in this article by Robert Mendick and Edward Melnick in today's Sunday Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/8713199/Duke-of-Northumberland-an-unlikely-hero-in-the-fight-against-wind-farms.html

We hear this is a two page article, so don't forget to buy the Sunday Telegraph, after you have looked at this online. There is also another excellent article by Christopher Booker: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8713093/The-BBC-steadfastly-avoids-the-facts-about-the-wind-farm-scam.html.

Matthew Sinclair

2011-08-18T13:03:00.002+01:00

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2011/08/how-do-the-conservatives-lose-out-politically-by-embracing-radical-climate-change-policy.html

None of the mainstream political leaders seem to understand that being Green isn't about wasting taxpayers money: it should be about caring for the environment, not making money out of it at the expense of poorer people.

Devon's landscape and tranquility under even greater threat

2011-08-15T07:14:00.007+01:00

Now that the Fullabrook turbines in North Devon are up, and visible from as far afield as Yes Tor on Dartmoor, news here of a flood of applications for smaller turbines, as well as some larger ones too.

As noted earlier in June, a couple living near the newly operational turbines at Great Torrington say they will have to move because of noise disturbance, and more recently there is already concern about the level of noise that the Fullabrook turbines are making during their testing period.

Devon's greatest asset was its landscape and its areas of peace of tranquility: they are both being destroyed at alarming pace.

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/planners-inundated-wind-solar-farm-applications/story-13069647-detail/story.html

http://www.dartmoorpreservation.com/news-a-publications/archive-news/planning-archive/122-renewed-turbine-threat.html

The Green Mirage

2011-08-07T07:53:00.006+01:00

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/civitas-21/detail/1906837309

"The Green Mirage: Why a Low-carbon Economy May be Further Off Than We Think"

By John Constable

Here is a quote from their Press Release:

"Constable concludes that, far from re-energising Britain's economy, the 'green economy' will drain investment from other sectors, making Britons pay more for electricity indefinitely and live less productive lives with access to fewer jobs"

See also:

http://www.ref.org.uk/

They're picking on the wrong charities

2011-08-06T22:32:00.002+01:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/planning/8686085/Ministers-go-to-war-with-green-charities-over-planning-shake-up-smears.html

Anrew Orlowski in The Register

2011-08-04T08:27:00.005+01:00

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/03/windfarm_health_experts_awol/

Here is a quote from the article:

"Industrial wind installations produce audible and non-audible noise, and optical flicker. But campaigners are fragmented, and face a daunting alliance of big eco-business and government. The academic establishment, which is quick to leap upon public health issues, is strangely inert."

Why is the the academic establishment so slow to pick up on this issue? Can it possibly be because academics are not in fact independent, and need funding from government sources?

Denmark again

2011-08-01T11:22:00.003+01:00

http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/news/2011/the-courage-and-necessity-of-we-the-people-denmark/

This article begins:

"I have long argued that Big Wind must be stopped by civil disobedience. Not lawsuits (they don’t work), not public hearings (they’re a farce), not invoking empirical scientific, clinical, or economic evidence (it’s routinely ignored and trivialized).

By civil disobedience I don’t mean violence. Violence is never acceptable. Violence is absurd (I speak as a professional historian)."

Please read it all - there are photographs from Denmark as well.

Latest news from Denmark

2011-07-28T16:16:00.007+01:00

This is the latest news sent to us by Peter Skeel Hjorth.

"July 28th 2011 Two activists were arrested Thursday morning in Østerild Klitplantage in Thy, Denmark.

One was bitten by a police dog. Activists went through a police bar. Police dogs were sent into the area, and one of the activists had superficial scratches, as the dogs stopped him, a police spokesman said . The activist who was bitten is Amos Stenner, who Tuesday made himself noticed when he sat for hours in a tree to be cut down.

"We were going to build a nest in one of the trees that have not yet been harvested. There was no police bar or warnings. When the police came, we would leave, but I forgot my jacket and phone at the nest, and went back to retrieve it. Suddenly a German shepherd came behind me and bit my arm," Amos Spener from the activists' camp in Østerild told the press.

"The dog bit my arm and my leg. It was very painful", Amos Spener said. He has spoken with his lawyer. And it may well be that this ends with a lawsuit. At hospital Amos Stenner had his wounds cleaned at hospital. He is released, while the other arrested activist was kept for interrogation. Both can expect a fine of 4000 Dkr = 550 Euro."

Peter also sent us a link to these photos by Egon Bennetsen:

The place with the flag at half mast shows the place where the activists had their tents, until the police demanded they moved. The other photos show how it looks after cutting down trees. One photo shows the police who still watch the area.

Swedish artist

2011-07-28T11:30:00.005+01:00

Example of work by Swedish artist Lars Jonssons can be seen at this address:

http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Lars_Jonssons_Birds.htmlo

Together with the world famous film director Jan Troell, Lars Jonnsons wrote a very critical article against wind power in the most important Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (News of
the day).

The linked website (Art Knowledge News) reviews his book "Lars Jonnson's Birds, Paintings from a Near Horizon" and shows a couple of his stunning bird paintings, "Gyrfalcon" and "Black Vultures".

Avatar versus Vestas

2011-07-27T09:18:00.006+01:00

Ville aflede politi med bare bryster
26. jul. 2011 Maria Bundgaard, marb@tv2.dk

Translation:
"Would distract police with bare breasts"

Activists attempting to stop machinery removing trees in Østerild Klitplantage climbed trees and some even took off their clothes, to distract the police officers who showed up to stop the activists.

See video: http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-42053950:ville-aflede-politi-med-bare-bryster.html

Activists attempting to stop machinery removing trees in Østerild Klitplantage climbed trees and some even took off their clothes, to distract the police officers who showed up to stop the activists.

Video from the area of the turbines, in Denmark

2011-07-27T08:20:00.005+01:00

This video shows a local resident explaining in English what the protest is about. You can also hear the voices of other locals.
This story - of government and industry ignoring the democratic wishes of ordinary people - is repeated worldwide, but it is especially poignant to hear Danish people speaking. Notice also that wind turbine noise is regarded as a serious issue by these people.
Just a reminder as a well to those of us who think in feet and inches - 250 metres equals 820.2 feet or 273.4 yards.

NET-Tv Denmark

2011-07-26T22:27:00.005+01:00

More from Peter Skeel Hjorth in Denmark: "This reportage from a local television channel has many live pictures showing what has happened in Thy. It also shows a map over several other places for test turbines 250 meters high. This is madness."

link:
http://www.tvmidtvest.dk/nettv/?id=7785

The television report shows gripping images of the police as they arrive in numerous vans, with dogs, as well as the machinery destroying the forest trees, and the activists being carried away by the police.

More from Peter Skeel Hjorth

2011-07-26T16:30:00.002+01:00

"The peaceful blockade of the cutting down of forest around the coming testcenter for giant wind turbines in Northern Jutlands west coast ended this morning, when a police force of 50 police officers moved away the activists. Here are photos from the police action."

Activist in tree

2011-07-26T15:45:00.003+01:00

More from Peter Skeel Hjorth:
This morning one of the activist crawled up into a tree before the police
could stop him. He is refuse to come down and is still sitting there. Here
is a link to Danish TV2 News:

http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-42048540:aktivist-n%C3%A6gter-at-komme-ned-fra-tr%C3%A6.html

Here's a link showing it translated (Google Translate)

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=da&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnyhederne.tv2.dk%2Farticle.php%2Fid-42048540%3Aaktivist-n%25C3%25A6gter-at-komme-ned-fra-tr%25C3%25A6.html

The police move in on Green activists trying to save forest

2011-07-26T10:30:00.012+01:00

This morning we had a message from Peter Skeel Hjorth that at 5.20 o´clock am 50 police officers began to take away the activists
from the blockade, arresting six of them. One activist who crawled up in a tree is still sitting there, but the authorities have started to
cut down the forest. Peter also sent us this link:

http://www.dr.dk/P4/Vest/Nyheder/Thisted/2011/07/26/071319.htm

Here is a link to the same page translated on Google Translate (not speaking Danish, we can't vouch for its accuracy, but it seems to make sense!):

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=da&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dr.dk%2FP4%2FVest%2FNyheder%2FThisted%2F2011%2F07%2F26%2F071319.htm

Here is a short paragraph from the translation:
"Amos Spener sits so far safe from the police. A policeman tried earlier to get him down, but failed at first.

Nature Agency has started to fell the trees around the tree where Amos Spener sit. "

Well, if the translation is correct, you can't help wondering if the translation software has a sense of irony in regard to the second sentence. Perhaps the Danish cartoonist, mentioned on our Facebook page on Sunday, Jens Hage will be inspired to produce another cartoon about wind turbines.

Here is a link to earlier photographs ( by Aleksaner Sønder)
of the protest as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalttestcenter/

Watch this video!

2011-07-24T09:16:00.005+01:00

http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-41917327:politiet-p%C3%A5-umulig-opgave-i-%C3%B8sterild.html

This is a link to a video showing protesters running to stand in front of the machines that were advancing on the forest where they planned to build 250m high turbines. As each protester is carried away by the police, more come to take their place. In the end, the police gave up.

Why didn't this happen at Romney Marsh, or Fullabrook Down, or Cefn Croes? Until people see industrial wind turbines with their own eyes, and become aware of the environmental damage that they cause, they don't usually understand the problems associated with them. It is easy to be misled by the PR of the wind industry, with their photographs of happy families with small and inoffensive-looking turbines in the background. Make no mistake, as more and more turbines are forced onto our landscapes against the will of the local people, this will happen here too, as it is in Demark, and the USA.

More from Denmark

2011-07-23T20:20:00.004+01:00

This is another photograph by Aleksaner Sønder.

Using Google translate, the banner seems to say:
"Vestas smashing Danish Nature"

More about the protest here:

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/51931-protestors-target-turbine-test-center.html

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/05/24/climate-craziness-of-the-week-denmark-evicting-citizens-to-clear-cut-forests-for-wind-turbines/test-center/

Photos

2011-07-22T14:55:00.007+01:00

Thanks to Egon Bennetsen for allowing us to show this and other photographs (on our Facebook page) of activists at the blockade against the Danish test centre for giant wind turbines.

Well done to all these brave Danish activists!

A quick attempt to translate using Google translate wasn't that successful, but the first words seem to be:

"We are nature's friends"

and that is something all fighters against industrial wind power agree with.

More about protest here, with photos!

2011-07-22T12:26:00.002+01:00

http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/news/2011/finally-civil-disobedience-over-wind-turbines-denmark/

True Green activists!

More here too:
http://www.epaw.org/echoes.php?lang=en&article=n15

See this quote: "“People are thoroughly fed up having their property devalued and their sleep disturbed by big wind turbines 130 and up to 200 meters high” , says the chairperson of a new Danish national association to Jyllandsposten."

Protest in Denmark - support needed

2011-07-22T09:54:00.010+01:00

Blockade against Danish test centre for giant wind turbines

Appeal for support from activists in Denmark

Thursday morning, the local Danish police gave up removing the activists who since Friday, 15 July 2011, have prevented the cutting down of forest to make room for the planned national test centre for 250 metres high windmills in Thy, Northern Jutland.

10 police officers turned up to end the blockade but withdrew when it turned out that there were more activists than exspected. They are camping in the forest area where the authorities intend to cut down the forest to create the right wind conditions in the test centre. We shall be back in great numbers, the police said.

The test centre will be situated right between a protected birds area, a so-called Ramsar area, and a Natura 2000 area. The Danish Society for Nature Conservation finds that the law regarding the test centre violates the EU habitat directive and has brought the case before the EU Commission who has requested a detailed statement from the Danish government. Furthermore, a local association has filed a case against the Danish State.

Friday, 15 July, the bird breeding season ended and by midnight the Danish authorities intended to start the cutting down. During the day, the local population protested against the demolition of Denmark's last wild nature.

The activists simply laid down in front of the authorities' machines to prevent the cutting down to start. They are staying in the area in tents day and night.

The ruling of the EU Commission is expected within a couple of weeks. The activists demand that the cutting down is postponed until the ruling of the EU Commission and the verdict of Danish court have been made public. The Danish press is following the case every hour. An open letter from a Danish association to the Minister for the Environment was published today requesting the Minister to stop the work.

”We find it very problematic that you, as the government's representative, wants to force through a very controversial test centre for windmills, as the most basic investigations of the negative impact on the surroundings have not yet been made”, the Association for Improved Environment writes to the minister.

The demonstration in Thy has no central organization but arose spontaneously. A spokesman for the activists appeals for support and assistance from both Europe and the rest of the world. And, preferably, as soon as possible.

Please contact Peter Skeel Hjorth, spokesman of EPAW in Scandinavia and the Baltic States. Email: peter@skeelhjorth.dk Phone: +46 708 166521

Or Aleksander Sønder. Email: aleksander.soender@gmail.com Phone: +45 26160630

(This report was sent to us by Peter Skeel Hjorth)

Seen on EPAW

2011-07-20T11:01:00.004+01:00

It would be great to have an English translation of this!

More information here:
www.5sindgenug.de

And watch Heinrich Schott the artist at work on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tslZosEpAyI

PVPTV2 - part 4

2011-07-18T08:38:00.005+01:00

Here is Part Four, all four can be seen on YouTube, or scroll back down here for parts 1, 2 and 3.
What a shame there wasn't a video of the North Devon District Council Planning Committee Meeting about the Batsworthy Cross proposal for 9 giant turbines near Exmoor, as well.
The same spirit - on a smaller scale - was felt there.
All over Britain - and the rest of the world - local people come out in their droves to say "No, we don't want these industrial turbines destroying our landscapes, for such little gain, and so great a cost." When are the Government Ministers and party leaders going to listen to what their local MPs and AMs are saying?

Part 3 of Powys County Council Meeting in Welshpool

2011-07-17T11:14:00.006+01:00

Pylons, Windfarm-PCC Motion, Councillors' Address - Part 3(A)

PVPTV2

Hear the councillors speak - this is local democracy in action. They are properly representing the views of local people.

Tax Payers Alliance

2011-07-15T12:31:00.004+01:00

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/letthemeatcarbon/2011/07/government-fiddle-disastrous-energy-policy-households-fuel-poverty.html

Matthew Sinclair's new book mentioned in the above link sounds interesting:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Let-Them-Eat-Carbon-Governments/dp/184954116

Other news on this blog:

There will be more links uploaded shortly about the Welshpool Council Meeting (there have been no postings here the last few days because of IT problems)

Part 2 PVPTV News

2011-07-07T12:06:00.005+01:00

More from Welshpool - hear Councillor R. G. Brown as he calls for a moratorium on wind farm applications, with words such as these "stop this ludicrous, inexcusable and completely out of proportion trashing of our countryside"

Pylons, Windfarms - Powys County Council Motion TAN 8.-PVPTV News Part 1

2011-07-06T15:03:00.001+01:00

The people speak.
This is Part 1 of a news documentary that features a meeting that took place at Welshpool on the 29th June 2011 organised by Powys County Council to discuss a motion to review TAN8.

David Bellamy's Blog

2011-07-05T10:55:00.007+01:00

David Bellamy's blog is very much worth visiting if you are an artist, and also if yuo are concerned about the wind farm threat to Mid Wales.
Here is a link to his June 30 2011 posting.

Exhibition by Jenny Keal

2011-07-01T18:44:00.008+01:00

Lindisfarne, by Jenny Keal

Exhibition of Paintings
by Jenny Keal
from her new book
Painting with Pastels

at
Erwood Station Craft Centre and Gallery
(6 miles south of Builth Wells)
LD2 3SJ
www.erwood-station.co.uk
tel: 01982 560674
from Saturday 2nd July 2011
until 18th August 2011

Go to this page on:
David Bellamy and Jenny Keal's website
for more details.

Jenny will be available at Erwood Station's Summer of Great Events
to sign books, demonstrate pastel techniques and answer questions on Saturday 23rd July 2011 between 12 noon and 4 pm.

Some news from the North and West of Britain

2011-06-30T19:23:00.005+01:00

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/cumbria-council-boss-wants-government-windfarm-policy-rethink-1.853135?referrerPath=news

Concerned about the number of wind farm applications? Look at this map from Aberdeenshire: http://www.cawt.co.uk/index.php?page=map

Powys council unanimously supported a motion urging the Welsh Government to request a moratorium on all wind farm applications.

Read more at this link:
http://www.warmwell.com/windfarms.html

Last weekend for Art Trek

2011-06-24T11:05:00.003+01:00

This is a great event, and a chance to visit artists in their studios. I was one of the first artists involved in the Art Trek, and after I organised it in the second year, Stella Levy took over from then until now. Several other Art Trek artists have been supportive of our campaigns, so if you live near one of our venues (or feel like a longer trek around some more) do come along. Many of us are doing tea and cakes as well. There is no pressure to buy - this is a friendly event, with free entry, and a chance to meet and talk with artists, usually in their own studios.
The North Devon Festival were also very supportive when I did my walk round Devon's wind farm sites back in 2006 and this is the last week of the Festival as well, which lights up June in North Devon even on a cold wet month like this one has been, so do please check out their website as well.
The campaigners in the South Molton area will be celebrating - at least for the moment, since the developers may appeal - but even more support is needed in the Torridge area, where the quiet and beautiful countryside around West Putford, Meddon, and the East Youldstone, close to Morwenstow across the Cornish border, is also under threat. So if you have the chance, do visit the West Gallery, to show your support - and see the work of Art Trek artist Rob Walker as well work by some other well-known artists.

Christine Lovelock

Safe for now!

2011-06-23T07:49:00.005+01:00

Starlings settling in the field where Npower planned to put nine 103m high turbines, on a ridge with views of Exmoor close by, and Dartmoor to the South.

North Devon Council Planning Committee met yesterday at Bishops Nympton Village Hall to decide upon Npower's application for nine wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross. The hall was packed to overflowing with locals, and the meeting took many hours as local after local after local spoke against this proposal. One after another, they covered each relevant topic in detail, demonstrating a breadth and depth of knowledge that must have impressed the Councillors.
There was emotion too, as many spoke of their love for the countryside in which they live.
From an artistic perspective, an important point was by a well-known local artist about the way in which wind turbines affect our sense of scale when looking at a landscape.
No local people at all (as far as I know) spoke in support of the proposed wind farm. One interesting speaker said that he had been asked to speak in support of the Proposal (by the Green Party or the Developers, I am not quite sure) because of his expertise in renewables, but having looked at the proposal, he changed his mind and urged the Committee to refuse the application!

This article by Martin Hesp was in yesterday's Western Morning News:
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Today-decision-day-wind-farm-battle/story-12811375-detail/story.html

This article by Andy Keeble was in yesterdays' North Devon Gazette:
http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/decision_day_for_giant_wind_farm_1_928748

Salute the future!

2011-06-20T18:51:00.001+01:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/hydro_electricenergy/7858960/Power-rationed-on-green-island-Eigg-after-mild-weather-causes-drought.html

This is what we have to look forward to, if the Coalition gets its way.

Art Trek Reminder

2011-06-16T08:27:00.008+01:00

A reminder - the Art Trek - a part of the North Devon Festival - is on for two more weeks.
Here is a link to Rob Walker's page:
http://northdevontheatres.org.uk/north-devon-festival-arttrek.asp?ID=306
His work is on show at the West Gallery in beautiful West Putford, in the quiet and rural area between Bideford and Holsworthy.
They are fighting proposals for numerous wind turbines in this are, the closest ones to the Gallery being at Wheeler's Cross.

And I will be open the next two weekends, here is my page:
http://northdevontheatres.org.uk/north-devon-festival-arttrek.asp?ID=293
Although luckily, because of the hill in between, you can't see it from the fields by my studio/home, the Fullabrook Down Wind Farm already dominates most of the scenery in the Barnstaple Braunton area.

Stella Levy, who organizes the Art Trek is also a supporter of Artists against wind farms. On her page there is a link to the Two Moors Campaign, fighting a proposal for 9 x 104m turbines at Batsworthy Cross - an area often called the Gateway to Devon, near Exmoor.

It would be great if more artists were prepared - in the words Martin Hesp used in his Western Morning News column last week - to "come out of the closet". I call it "putting your head above the parapet", and it isn't always easy, so I totally understand anyone who doesn't want to do so in public, but there comes a tipping point, and it is getting closer.

Time lapse of Turbine Erection (You Tube)

2011-06-14T07:35:00.005+01:00

This was posted on Conservation of Upland Powys Facebook Page (by a contributor to our Facebook Page) and we just had to show it here too!
Think of the carbon emissions! And the harm to the land.

This is what is coming to so many places, to a small valley between North Tawton and Dartmoor, to Blackcraig Hill in Dumfries and Galloway if there isn't a miracle, to the D-day Beaches and Mont St.Michel, to Cornwall again in increased size, to the Yorkshire Wolds, the Lancashire Moors, and peaceful rural Warwickshire, to almost all of Poland if you look at the map on EPAW, to Canada and the States, to to Australia, and to many beautiful and secret parts of Torridge in Devon, as well as to Batsworthy Cross near Exmoor National Park, close to the wonderful Two Moors Way. We could go on, and the many places we have left out are just as special to those who love them, but it would take all day to itemise them, there are so many threatened locations.

Protest in Cardiff

2011-06-13T08:25:00.006+01:00

Watch this great video on YouTube - hear Sian Lloyd give her "wind turbine weather forecast", listen to Mp Glyn Davies, AM Russell George and a lady from the W.I. among others speaking on the steps of the Welsh Assembly.
This is just the beginning of the People's Protest!

More Madness!

2011-06-12T19:16:00.002+01:00

As well as receiving £900,000 in April for switching off, we now hear that in May wind operators were paid £2.6 million for standing idle. You can read more at this link:

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/06/12/wind-turbines-pick-up-2-6m-for-standing-idle/

Noise again

2011-06-10T18:53:00.006+01:00

http://www.northern-times.co.uk/News/Exasperated-planners-shut-wind-farm-down-6934757.htm

Quote from the article in the Northern Times:

"THE LOCAL authority has forced Scottish and Southern Electricity to shut down a Sutherland wind farm after the company breached planning controls by failing to deal with excessive noise from the development.

People living close to the Achany wind farm near Rosehall are claiming their lives are being made a misery by the constant noise, and are angry that their complaints are being ignored."

One of the properties suffering from the noise was 2km from the wind farm.

James Lovelock wins Observer Lifetime Award

2011-06-10T12:59:00.005+01:00

"Christine watching Bob Deverill on his tractor, with Marleycombe Down behind"
Painting by James Lovelock, as shown on this page of the Artists against wind farms website (made during my walk round Devon's wind farm sites in 2006).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/10/james-lovelock-observer-lifetime-achievement-award?intcmp=122

A quote from the article by Colin Blakemore, in The Guardian:

"He is withering in his criticism of the "scam" of commercial exploitation of renewable technology"

Posted by Christine Lovelock

Torrington couple speak out about turbine noise

2011-06-08T19:32:00.006+01:00

Darracott Daisies, by Christine Lovelock, painted after walking round Devon's wind farm sites in 2006. The turbines are in the field beside Darracott Reservoir.

Some sad news for a Torrington couple. Sometimes it's better not to show the turbines.

http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/our_sleepless_nights_with_the_wind_turbines_1_914875

Rising electricity bills

2011-06-08T18:37:00.007+01:00

" 'Leccy price hike: Greens to blame as well as energy biz. Who's paying for your neighbour's solar panels? You are"

Article by Lewis Page on The Register.

Here's a quote:

"In essence the ROC scheme is a hidden tax on electricity which is used to subsidise renewables. But a flat tax like that - one which hits poorer people, to whom the electricity bill is a noticeable expense, disproportionately hard - would be politically difficult to implement, so the way it is kept off the government's books is particularly cunning."

2011-06-08T11:51:00.003+01:00

Ecocide, by Josh at
www.cartoonsbyjosh.com

China and Scotland

2011-06-05T09:33:00.005+01:00

Thanks to a Scottish campaigner for these links:
http://www.renewablesinternational.net/china-leads-world-in-installed-wind-power/150/505/29965/

Installed doesn't mean producing electricity...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13634300

They are worried about rising electricity costs so they want to use a technology that makes electricity even more expensive (and hurts the poorest among us, like single mothers and those out of work, for example, most of all.)

Near Ilfracombe, North Devon

2011-06-03T20:58:00.004+01:00

A beautiful morning on the hills near Ilfracombe. As we stood and watched these blades go by, we could see Wales across the sea, and the coastline towards Lynton, as well as the hills of Exmoor. How could anyone have dreamt that such industrialisation would be forced upon rural Devon - in the name of environmentalism?
And just by the way, for anyone who has watched Windfarm Wars, the blades coming to the Denbrook Valley near Dartmoor will be bigger than these ones. All the better to be seen from Yes Tor, of course.

More about Priors Hardwick and Wormleighton

2011-06-02T15:59:00.003+01:00

http://www.princess-diana-remembered.com/1/post/2011/2/earl-spencers-plans-for-wind-farm-generate-fury-among-his-tenants.html

Countryside under Assault

2011-05-31T06:59:00.003+01:00

Land at Stoneton/ Wormleighton, to be destroyed if the plan goes ahead.

The tiny and historic village of Wormleighton is under assault, and with a population of 80 they do not have many voices to protest about the destruction of their environment, firstly by the HS2 Train-line and secondly by plans for 13 x 120 m high turbines. This plan is being proposed by the Spencer Trust who own the surrounding land, and EDF, the French Energy Group.

More to follow on this, later today, but if you care about South Warwickshire and Northants, and want to object at once, you can go to this link:

http://apps.stratford.gov.uk/eplanning/AppDetail.aspx?appkey=LIYZ5CPM00E00

You can look at associated documents to see what others have written.

The Gadarene Swine

2011-05-30T18:49:00.003+01:00

How else can you describe our three party leaders - along with Chris Huhne - as they drag us all over the cliffs?

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/6987273/in-englands-green-and-pleasant-land.thtml

Britain running out of wind?

2011-05-30T16:04:00.004+01:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/8545306/Wind-farms-Britain-is-running-out-of-wind.html

What good will all these wind farms be, when there is no wind?

Also:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/3867232/Promoters-overstated-the-environmental-benefit-of-wind-farms.html

Great Torrington

2011-05-27T11:24:00.006+01:00

This video was made last Sunday, when visiting Torrington with a friend. Only two turbines appear to have been working in the last few days. What a good thing it is that we are not yet reliant on wind... would a third of the "homes supplied" have to go to work without their morning cups of tea?

Sian Lloyd speaks out

2011-05-27T06:13:00.007+01:00

http://itvwalesblog.com/2011/05/26/guest-blog-sian-lloyd-wind-farms-in-wales-would-be-vandalism/

Sian Lloyd was one of the speakers at Tuesday's protest - and let us hope that the politicians inside the Assembly buildings heard the crowd roaring in approval of everything that she said.

You can see videos of some of the speeches given on the Assembly steps on the Conservation of Upland Powys Facebook page.

And here is a link to a report about the protest - and if you look closely at the video you can see artist Jenny Keal (red jacket) holding a placard saying "Windfarms = No Lights" near the end of the item.

David Bellamy's Blog

2011-05-26T20:30:00.005+01:00

http://davidbellamyart.blogspot.com/

He has written a wonderful description of what it was like to be at the Protest on Tuesday.... and he didn't forget to mention that the W.I. were there, too. What more can we ask for, than to have the W.I. on our side?

Myfanwy Alexander speaks in front of the Welsh Assembly building

2011-05-25T16:04:00.004+01:00

This and other videos and photographs from yesterday's protest can be found on the Conservation of Upland Powys Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150257382570663

Outside the Welsh Assembly yesterday

2011-05-25T10:59:00.005+01:00

Great speeches by Russell George (Welsh Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire) Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire MP) and Sian LLoyd among others (more details about these speakers on this page about earlier protest)

Matthew Sinclair: Clegg's crony capitalism, cash for Climate Change Capital

2011-05-25T10:51:00.006+01:00

On today's ConservativeHome.

As he says (about offshore wind and other green investments):

"People don't invest in frightening things like that, so the plan is to transfer the risk to the poor old taxpayer, who is going to have to bear the cost of the subsidies and be saddled with the risk if they don't turn out well."

First short video

2011-05-25T08:58:00.002+01:00

It wasn't too easy to hold a camera, and a placard, especially when it was windy!
More to come, probably later today.

Cardiff today

2011-05-24T21:46:00.002+01:00

Just one of many more photos from a fantastic day - more to come.