"Small" wind turbines

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.