We know from the Emberton Parish Council poll that the majority of local people are against the proposals for a wind farm at Petsoe Manor (no silent majority here!) but Horizon Radio conducted a poll today which, just 30 minutes before councillors are due to debate this important issue, shows that 62% of those who voted are against plans for the construction of a wind farm at Emberton:
Furthermore, quoting some of those who left a comment on the poll (in fairness, I should note that some, but far from all, of these comments were from BLEW members; however many more people voted without commenting):
“Entirely inappropriate development for the location; the dis-benefits that would be suffered by the local area clearly outweigh any claimed benefit (local or otherwise) that the promoters are seeking to suggest. The proposed development amounts to the sort of unacceptable tokenism that the Council should avoid at all costs.”
“Creating green energy with colossal subsidies is a sham. Wind energy will only be worthwhile in windy places!”
“So many commercial actions are easy to value but the effect of wind turbines on the value of a landscape is not one. This is a beautiful corner of Buckinghamshire.”
“The problem should be addressed nationally with technologies that work in all conditions and personal emissions accountability. Don’t inflict the nation’s energy problems on the few unindustrialised areas remaining.”
“This IDEA is MAD - a laughable political government gimmick. It takes a windfarm the size of greater Manchester to equal one power station. You still have to build a quick response power station (i.e. carbon fuelled) and have it running in hot standby in case the wind stops. Why not go for biomass, hydro or nuclear electricity? The French have been 80% nuclear for over 20 years and have been able to supply UK and Italy from their surplus […]
“‘MILTON KEYNES THE NEW GREEN CITY’ Firstly Petsoe End is not Milton Keynes nor can it be considered part of Milton Keynes!! [Technically, Petsoe End is part of the borough… but that is splitting hairs] Secondly if Milton Keynes needs to have wind power why not consider a wind farm within the envelope of MK. If these turbines exceed all our expectations and actually operate 50% of the year they still will not produce as much electricity as could be saved if we provided each resident of Olney with an energy saving light bulb! Why destroy one of the last pieces of Buckinghamshire’s countryside to keep a few over eager planning officers and a greedy farmer.”
“It’s all very well saying the Wind Farm ‘may’ provide energy for ‘up to’ 9,000 houses, but I understand those figures on the basis of the turbines working to maximum efficiency. My understanding is that there is significantly less wind in the area than would be required for effective running of the turbines. What’s the point in spending millions in subsidies and ruining a beautiful area, if the turbines would be more use elsewhere?”
“As a keen windsurfer I can tell you how frustratingly little wind there really is around here! Like the government, I realised that most of our wind is on the coast, so putting these giant turbines up here is a waste of money, a waste of our subsidies and a pointless destruction of Milton Keynes’ green belt treasure!”
“Anyone who opposes this development is labelled a NIMBY but the truth of the matter is that these are a highly inefficient way of generating power with a massive financial and environmental cost attached. There are alternatives (offshore wind, tide, solar, microgeneration, vertical wind turbines, etc.) that can be deployed without wrecking our countryside.”
