Editor's Note: Recently updated, Elizabeth Mann's extensive research on the deceptive measures employed by proponents of industrial wind energy in the UK at both the national and local level should prove quite useful to opponents of wind energy in the UK.

A7 Energy's appeal against the Easington District Council for refusing to grant planning permission with respect to a wind plant consisting of 2 x 2.3MW turbines was dismissed by D. L. Burrows, an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The principal reason for dismissal was adverse impact the turbines would have on the activities of Shotten airfield.

To conclude, it can be stated that with respect to wind turbine sound an important phenomenon has been overlooked: the change in wind after sunset. This phenomenon will be more important for modern, tall wind turbines and in view of the many wind farms that are planned. If this problem is not recognized and solved it will hamper the expansion of wind energy.

The full Executive Summary of the Report is printed below. The complete Report is attached as a pdf file.

The following submission first discusses BWEA’s position on the headline issues before turning to detailed responses to the five questions and four issues on which Government sought views. We are also including four appendices, which address the development of onshore wind, offshore wind and marine renewables, as well as the combined contribution that these technologies plus wind microgeneration can make to our power supplies in 2020. We believe that the evidence we are presenting makes a strong case for setting a firm target of 20% of our electricity from renewable generators in 2020. If this is done it will show that the UK Government is serious in setting this country on a course towards its longterm carbon reduction goals as well as increasing the security of our energy supplies.

This report published by the British Ornithologists’ Union provides an important look at bird migration behavior over water and the potential for collision with offshore wind energy turbines. The authors recommend "abandonment of wind farms in zones with dense migration, turning off turbines on nights predicted to have adverse weather and high migration intensity, and actions to make wind turbines more recognizable to birds, including modification of the illumination to intermittent rather than continuous light, as the most appropriate mitigation measures." An excerpt of the Executive Summary appears below. The full report can be downloaded from this webpage.

The Poldermodel approach is consensus-based. The poldermodel is a model on which Dutch society and politics are based. The Poldermodel ensures that different planning systems are used for every ministry. There is a need to draw all planning systems together into one system. This is done by means of communication and negotiation. The Poldermodel intends to involve as many (relevant) stakeholders as possible to give every person the possibility to plan developments on the scarce land.

Comments from the CLOWD website:

The Government has been misled in the past by the wind energy industry into believing that wind turbines offer a viable method of producing energy. The variability and intermittency of wind energy has been underestimated because the wind statistics used have been unscientifically and misleadingly presented. The paper ‘UK Wind Energy Resources (Variability, Intermittency, Dispersal)’ shows the more realistic situation for mainland UK and in particular the situation that is likely to occur should wind farms be built inland far from the coast and at relatively low elevation.

The Secretary of State accepts the Inspector’s [David M H Rose] findings on the section 36 application. He agrees with the Inspector’s conclusions that the Whinash site is an important and integral part of a far reaching landscape which is highly sensitive to change and that the adverse environmental impacts of the Development would conflict with the aims of Planning Policy Statement 22 which is, in part, to minimise the impacts of wind generation and to achieve environmental safeguards. He also agrees with the Inspector’s conclusion that the environmental harm to this particular landscape outweighs the benefits of securing renewable energy at the Whinash site. The Secretary of State therefore accepts, taking account of the further comments below, the Inspector’s recommendation that consent be refused.

Editor's Note: The pdf file contains the complete report.

The Service favors:
--conservation of wildlife in the public trust;
--development of renewable energy that is bird and bat friendly; and
--use of informed decisions based on adequate environmental assessment and sound science.