Article
Public subsidies spark criticism
Tavistock-Today|January 19, 2006
WEST Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox has launched a probe into the amount of public money spent by the Government to subsidise companies who develop wind farms. Mr Cox's Parliamentary Questions will form part of the latest stage in his campaign in support of the thousands of local residents who object to the siting of two wind farms in his constituency.
WEST Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox has launched a probe into the amount of public money spent by the Government to subsidise companies who develop wind farms. Mr Cox's Parliamentary Questions will form part of the latest stage in his campaign in support of the thousands of local residents who object to the siting of two wind farms in his constituency.
The Den Brook Valley Wind Farm, near North Tawton and on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, would comprise nine turbines measuring in excess of 80 metres in height. And a development at Yelland in North Devon, would see three turbines, 81 metres in height, in an area used by low flying aircrafts. These proposals have met with strong opposition from residents who believe they will destroy some of the region's most beautiful and environmentally sensitive countryside. The questions by Mr Cox target the amount of money the Government is paying to companies like Renewable Energy Systems Group, which is behind the Den Brook Proposal. Mr Cox said: "If we are to promote the landscape and our rural way of life as our best asset in helping the …
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The Den Brook Valley Wind Farm, near North Tawton and on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, would comprise nine turbines measuring in excess of 80 metres in height. And a development at Yelland in North Devon, would see three turbines, 81 metres in height, in an area used by low flying aircrafts. These proposals have met with strong opposition from residents who believe they will destroy some of the region's most beautiful and environmentally sensitive countryside. The questions by Mr Cox target the amount of money the Government is paying to companies like Renewable Energy Systems Group, which is behind the Den Brook Proposal. Mr Cox said: "If we are to promote the landscape and our rural way of life as our best asset in helping the rural economy out of its present troubles, it is absurd to risk the peace, tranquility and beauty of West Devon?s scenery by the construction of dozens of these monsters." He claimed the turbines were not the green solution the manufacturers claimed, yet the Government still continued to subsidise their construction.