Fife Council’s Labour leader Alex Rowley is calling for a community led discussion and examination of appropriate locations for wind turbines and is proposing that no more applications for wind turbines be approved until such time as a strategic framework for wind farm applications is in place
Mr Rowley said: “I am worried that we seem to be operating on a first-come first -approved basis with little thought to what is acceptable for local communities. In my own home village, we are surrounded by proposals and applications to erect these large structures and I think we have to stop and think about whether or not we want to be surrounded by such large industrial structures or if there is a better way.
“I am not against such industrial structures for the sake of it and I accept that we will have such structures to achieve a mixed approach to sourcing energy, but we seem to be verging on the ad hoc approach with little regard for people and communities. This is why we need the debate and one that is informed with information, such as how many of these turbines are we likely to accept within Fife and then where is it best for them to be located to achieve minimal disruption to people, places, and communities?
“I am old enough to remember the legacy of the mines on our local landscape and we are proud of the work of the councillors of that time in getting the areas re instated into beautiful country side – and I do not want a 21st century version of pit bings blighting the landscape. We, the people of Fife must be in charge of what is acceptable and where is acceptable for these industrial structures to be sited. This must not be dictated by where the profiteers want to put them.”
Cllr Rowley has written to the Head of Development Services and the Head of Planning asking for a meeting to discuss these issues and his proposal for a moratorium on all current and future applications until such time as a strategic framework for wind farms has been put in place.
I’m really worried about the industrial wind-farm being built just I.6km from my home in Lochgelly, and 1.3km from the nearest home in Cowdenbeath. The Scottish Government guidelines advise at least a 2km distance from residential homes, and even this is being revised by other countries and the latest advice is a distance of 10km. There are concerns about possible adverse health effects, as well as the potential for ‘bird-kill’ on the migratory geese route each year. These towers are going to be over 400ft tall, already the landscape has been ripped-up and tarred-over to accomodate them. I’m not against ‘green energy’, but I don’t see these turbines as ‘green’ . A good site to follow the news from around Scotland regarding wind-turbines:-
http://www.wind-watch.org/news/category/locations/europe/uk/scotland/
I agree that more thought needs to be given to these things and where they are located. Any local plan needs to also fit into the national picture, so for example how many such structures on land does the Scottish government actually think we will need and what does this mean for Fife.
Fife is a place of great beauty that is not sold enough so well done don’t allow your great Kingdom to be overrun with these large industrial giants.
Developers need to be held accountable for providing accurate data to the planning department. For instance predicting noise pollution levels for a height of 10 metres is wrong if the blade extends much higher as sound modulation and sound dispersion is different at higher levels.
Take Little Raith Wind Farm, blades reach 125 metres into the air, therefore due to aerodynamics, wind turbulence and sound modulation the noise levels are likely to be much higher than the predicted levels that have only been tested at 10 metres.
Secondly, noise pollution tests are only predicted using the Dba scale, which is fine for industrial noise, yet industrial turbines generate Low Frequency Noise and Ultrasound which cannot be accurately recorded using the Dba method. The weighting of Dbc scale should be used to predict the noise levels from LFN and Ultrasound which is the cause of the negative health impacts affecting some people surrounding wind farms.
Peer reviewed scientific research has emerged from the French Institute of Technology that LFN can affect individuals up to 10km away depending on topographic features. The report also recognises that testing likely LFN pollution is hard because various topographic features will affect the sound dispersal differently. Which basically means that the developers cannot provide realistic noise pollution prediction results as there is no way of knowing what the noise pollution will be until the turbines are built and in operation.
I would recommend that Alex Rowley takes some time to view http://www.wind-watch.org which has a range of scientific reports and research regarding all aspects of wind farms, as well as containing reports and news from around the world regarding wind farms and industrial turbines.
Having investigated the technology, wind farms at the current technological level, will never replace fossil fuels, and the negative impacts far outweigh the minuscule benefits. More research needs to be conducted into renewable energy for a more reliable solution rather than waste taxpayers money on unproven technology.
Geothermal energy, though very expensive has the best returns of investment in terms of reliability and energy production, and has the less impact on the environment. There needs to be action to encourage the government to invest in other renewable technologies rather than the current heavy investment into wind energy.