Belthorn residents urge neighbouring villages to join anti-windfarm campaign (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Belthorn residents urge neighbouring villages to join anti-windfarm campaign
9:00pm Tuesday 4th August 2009 in
-
- By Nafeesa Shan » Reporter
RESIDENTS in an East Lancashire village are launching a campaign to stop a windfarm being built.
Opposition against the proposed 12 turbine site on the moors between Oswaldtwistle and Haslingden has gained momentum among Belthorn residents.
They are to contact neighbouring villages such as Guide, Hoddlesden and Pickup Bank which would also be effected.
Led by Stuart Kaufman, whose property will be nearest the proposed windfarm, the group has already started a petition which has been left in the Dog Inn.
There are 70-plus signatures against Energie Kontor’s proposal which would see the turbines built on land near the Grey Mare pub, Grane Road.
Residents say the land which the windfarm is proposed for is common land, which belongs to the people, and they will fight to protect it.
Energie Kontor initially bid to site 24 turbines, but this number has since been reduced to 12.
Belthorn residents met in the Dog Inn on Monday night.
They raised concerns and strong opposition to the windfarm on a number of grounds, including the visual impact which they feel could distract drivers along the notorious Grane Road, the adverse effects on health, noise generated from the turbines, the danger if a propellor were to break and the effects on the moors themselves.
One resident said: “It is quite clear we don’t want this and there are numerous reasons but we will not engage with anything until the application is in.”
Another resident said: “This will cause a distraction to people driving along the Grane Road, people will be slowing down to look at it and it only takes one distraction for an accident to happen.”
Jean Bain said: “If they get permission to build the windfarm it opens up the area to other developments such as industrial sites. This will set a precedent.”
Comments(29)
pip-pip
says...
10:46pm Tue 4 Aug 09
happycyclist
says...
7:30am Wed 5 Aug 09
Jimmy Paterson
says...
9:26am Wed 5 Aug 09
Well isn't this what Belthornites have been moaning about for the past god knows how many years? At least if drivers slow down to look at the windmills they won't be going as fast through your village???
The common land mentioned is actually not where the windmills would be sited - but a nice try to pull in the ninja ramblers!!
GP
says...
9:42am Wed 5 Aug 09
Opti
says...
10:00am Wed 5 Aug 09
I assume the people of Belthorn use electricity.
We already subsidise their road surfacing, utilities, broadband internet etc I don't see why they can't have a few wind turbines up there.
What is it that makes people think they have a god given right to 360 degree views anyway?
HarwoodBiker
says...
11:27am Wed 5 Aug 09
And as for the 'adverse effects on health' - I've a good mind to put in a planning application to build a coal plant there, just to get on their nerves.
Have Yr Say
says...
12:16pm Wed 5 Aug 09
Anyone interested in the fight please check out the Belthorn website www.belthornvillage.
co.uk and leave your contact details or check the comments page.
BelTower
says...
2:08pm Wed 5 Aug 09
DavidBurnley
says...
2:50pm Wed 5 Aug 09
Having stood directly underneath these on several occasions, I can testify that they are virtually silent other than the sound of the wind itself - which is not an unpleasant sound. If the farm is to be situated at the distance mentioned from Belthorn itself, then I doubt you will be able to hear anything at all.
Finally, the instances of turbine blades actually coming off 'in flight' is about as rarer than rocking horse poo! Such a small risk that I don't think it poses any great threat to residents - and even if it did happen, the RMP of these machines means it could not possibly fly far enough to hit a building and for around 280 out of every 360 degree turn a falling blade would go either straight up or down and not be flung off sideways.
I think the real issue is that the people in Belthorn just don't want a wind farm near them because they think it looks unsightly. That's a different argument and one that I'm not totally in disagreement with. What I would say is try not to use spurious and weak arguments that can easily be disproved to try and win a repreive because it won't work. If you don't want it because you think it looks bad, just be honest and say so.
Opti
says...
5:57pm Wed 5 Aug 09
BelTower
says...
7:08pm Wed 5 Aug 09
I thought we had a National Grid - or are you saying all towns have now to generate their own supply? Sensible points only please.....you've not thought this through have you
Nad
says...
7:29pm Wed 5 Aug 09
Can anyone out there tell me where I can sign up to support the project?
Opti
says...
7:38pm Wed 5 Aug 09
I can only assume usage is going to increase rather than decrease.
Plus current stations will reach the end of their life at some point and will need to be decommissioned and new ones built.
Should the folks who have always suffered living near power stations always have to, so that people who have beautiful 360 degree views always get to?
That said I don't know what the problem is, there was talk of them coming to Darwen at one point, I for one would welcome them.
sideways
says...
7:46pm Wed 5 Aug 09
BelTower
says...
8:28pm Wed 5 Aug 09
Thanks for the voice of reason.
It's not the actual equipment that's the issue here - it's the presumption that Wind Power will solve our energy problems, it can't and it won't. And whilst these multi national keep taking the "incentives" from government they will be queuing up to plough up vast tracts of land under the guise of a "green" agenda. Wind Power, Wave Power it's all tosh. There's only one answer - Nuclear, but no government has got the balls to adopt a potentially vote losing policy.
DavidBurnley
says...
9:58am Thu 6 Aug 09
The UK is the windiest country in Europe and could easily generate more than enough electricity from wind power (probably using a mix of off shore and land based wind farms) and become a massive exporter of electricity. We currently generate around 1% of our electricty using this method but could easily get up to 20% within a few years. It's safer, cleaner and looks better than nuclear power reactors.
Cmon Belthorn come clean and admit you just don't like the thought of looking at the turbines. It's nothing to do with econmics or danger posed by the turbines.
Opti
says...
11:31am Thu 6 Aug 09
Tell it to the people of Chernobyl.
I know a repeat isn't likely but it's even less likely if we don't go down the nuclear route.
Anyway, last I heard, all the nuclear waste created to date is piling up while the powers that be decide what to do with it.
Opti
says...
11:37am Thu 6 Aug 09
http://news.bbc.co.u
k/1/hi/sci/tech/7421
879.stm
http://tinyurl.com/l
prb6j
Some snippets....
'Nineteen sites across the country, some dating from the 1950s, are due to be dismantled in the coming decades.
National Audit Office said that the cost of decommissioning ageing power sites had risen from £12bn to £73bn.
At the largest site, Sellafield, on the Cumbrian coast, I saw for myself one of the "ponds" in which an unknown mass of radioactive material was dumped in the 1950s.
For the moment the blocks - along with all nuclear waste - are stored in temporary facilities while the government decides where and when to build a long-term underground dump.'
Bring me turbines any day.
Joseph Yossarian
says...
12:33pm Thu 6 Aug 09
Opti wrote:In my back yard instead, presumably.
So how *DO* the people of Belthorn want electricity to be produced, and more to the point, where?
BelTower
says...
12:46pm Thu 6 Aug 09
DavidBurnley
says...
12:57pm Thu 6 Aug 09
I suppose you have seen the news items about the poor guys on the Isle of Wight who have been 'sitting in' to protect their jobs in a wind turbine blade factory? The main reason the company gives for these jobs going is the over complex and difficult planning laws in the UK to get wind farms agreed. It is an unfortunate fact that it is campaigns like yours that are costing these guys their jobs.
Sorry - I just think you are being oversensitive about something that actually looks ok and that is good for both employment and the environment.
BelTower
says...
1:22pm Thu 6 Aug 09
I am eternally grateful to you for pointing out I may have embarrassed myself, Why, How - All you have done is offered a contrary opinion and one that is continually spun by anyone with a "enviro" agenda. Thanks again but I happy with my comments. As for this campaign costing jobs -thats the fault of a poor business plan that doesn't stack up, not the fault of a small village who won't roll over because "the man" says so.
DavidBurnley
says...
1:32pm Thu 6 Aug 09
I just think, and you are right that it's only a personal opinion' that the real reason behind why you don't wnat the turbines is that you don't like the way they look. Businesses don't just fail because of a poor business plan, there are many reasons. If the planning process in the UK is more complex than elsewhere, then obviously a business will choose to take the easy route and build elsewhere. That damages UK jobs whether you like it or not. I didn't say it was the fault of Belthorn that these guys are losing their jobs - I said it is campaigns like yours - of which there are a number - that cumulatively contribute.
As far as your information is concerned - I'm simply saying that you need to make sure that it is accurate if you want to have a chance of success. Some of what you have said so far is actually incorrect and can easily have holes picked in it - that wouldn't do your campaign any service would it?
Personally, I couldn't care less if they put turbines at Belthorn or not - it would just be a few more windmills up on the hills as I drive along the M65.
Opti
says...
8:45pm Thu 6 Aug 09
1) Belthorn don't want turbines as they aren't beautiful and have an unproven efficiency record.
2) Chernobyl was 'unfortunate'.
Fair enough.
tosh103
says...
9:33am Sun 9 Aug 09
tosh103
says...
9:39am Sun 9 Aug 09
Kapitan Erich Topp (U-552)
says...
11:25pm Thu 20 Aug 09
Low grade stuff from the nuke power stations,such as gloves,overalls etc.
The pit can still be seen just up the road from that pub that used to be an Italian for while...whatsitsname
???,cant think at the mo??
Kapitan Erich Topp (U-552)
says...
11:27pm Thu 20 Aug 09
Thats what im trying to say above..
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CHAIRMAN: Stuart Kaufman led the meeting for residents of Belthorn
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happycyclist says...
9:46pm Tue 4 Aug 09