The draft North East Renewable Energy Strategy published in March 2005 sets out how turbines should not be sited so as to impinge on principle views of the Cheviots.
Strangely, Force 9 have done some photomontages of turbines in situ in their documentation - but hardly any have the Cheviots in the background - why not put the turbines on this picture, for instance. Taken from near Brackenside there would be a line of turbines going straight across this view.
Even more strange, the photomontages have "before" pictures, but they have omitted many of the "after"...? Why would that be? How can this environmental statement be seen to be credible if there are such a glaring omissions ?
Here's a photomontage done by a resident who will be severely affected by the development :
View from Coldharbour Cottage
before..
and after
Pictures courtesy of J & A Ferguson.
Pictures courtesy of J & A Ferguson.
Force 9's interpretation of visual impact assessment - a cropped letterbox view of the scene with just a turbine arm visible behind the house on the right.
Positions of turbines (above)
Below in the before and after pictures, cows are used in the foreground to distract the eye and make the very distant turbines seem not much bigger than the height of the cows, when in fact they are almost 90 times the height.
Bowsden view
In the picture below, the turbine and rotors are smaller than those proposed for Barmoor
Ian, farmer from Bowsden, said "I feel all the previous generations of country dwellers have left us all a very valuable legacy and it is our duty to protect, improve and hand it on to future generations to enjoy."
For those of you who are Newcastle United supporters, imagine this. If you were to take one of the turbines and lay it flat, it would not fit into St James’s Park
"My
family has lived and farmed in this area for nearly 50 years. We, and
indeed most farmers, accept a responsibility for looking after the
countryside. We are, in fact, being paid in many cases, by the taxpayer
to conserve and enhance the landscape. We are the custodians of the
land.
For probably more than 500 years now, our countryside has been the workplace of many different country people. Farmers have enclosed fields by building walls, planting hedges and shelter belts in order to raise livestock. Much of our area has been drained in order to cultivate crops.
Some areas however, remain unimproved such as moorland and peat bogs. We also have a huge variety of different woodland which traditionally would have been planted to provide fuel and building materials. During the 19th century coal mining and limestone quarrying would have been commonplace around the Barmoor area. Architecture too provides interest and diversity to our countryside. Hamlets and villages have sprung up all over the area and contain many different types of building."
These turbines photographed at Crystal Rigg are over a mile away.
"I would like to sum up by asking anyone who is concerned about this development to please go to Crystal Rig or at least drive along to Barmoor South Moor and imagine the impact these turbines will have, remembering of course that they are not static and not silent.
I am not against development or change in the countryside, nor am I against renewable energy, I am not even against wind power. I understand why the landowners have agreed to the developers proposals.
However I am strongly against this proposal in this area. The cost to us all is just too high a price to pay. Have a look at the various views around the parish that would be changed for the rest of our lives perhaps :"
See below for more comparisons and what else happened at the Public meeting :
The Flyer sent out for the public meeting :
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON
WIND FARMS?
This could be your view.
Turbine scaled to size of anemometer at Barmoor
The 10 wind turbines proposed to be built at Barmoor South Moor will be
5 and a half times as high as the Angel of the North.
- A wind "farm" is an industrial site of vast proportions with substations and many pylons
The larger the turbine, the greater the air mass moving the blades and the higher the noise level. The noise is a penetrating, low-frequency 'thump' each time a blade passes the turbine tower;
- 75,000 tourists are attracted to Berwick Borough per day peak season.* As a vital part of the local economy, jobs would be lost and local businesses would suffer if tourism suffers a substantial decline.
- Property prices in areas blighted by wind “farms” decrease substantially
It would be foolish and a criminal neglect of our duty
to future generations to industrialise our last wild places, temporarily to
reduce global CO2 emissions to 99.95% of their current levels when there are
more effective strategies*
Refs. 1 Berwick Community Plan 2 Country
Guardian
. This is YOUR heritage,
YOUR county
NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND:
HILLS, COAST, CASTLES &
360 FT.TURBINES!
LOCALS VOICE OPINION ON TURBINE PLAN AT PUBLIC MEETING
Large turn-out shows the strength of local opposition to proposed turbines in the Barmoor area.
LOWICK, NORTHUMBERLAND, 26/11/05 —
Members of SOUL (Save Our Unspoilt Landscape) led a very well attended public
meeting this Saturday morning at the Lowick Village Hall. The meeting was organized to gauge public
opinion on the proposed Barmoor turbine development, which would see 10 wind
turbines built in an area renowned for its natural beauty.
The meeting was attended by
over 180 local residents, as well as Councillor David Lockie, who attended in advisory
capacity as member of the Berwick Borough Council planning committee.
What Councillor Lockie said was that objectors needed to consider:
- The Planning law
- National planning guidance
- Regional guidance
- The Local plan
The planning committee considers all the submissions made, both for and against the proposal.
Points that are not relevant :
- Biomass and other alternative renewable energies;
- The people involved;
- The money involved;
- Any subsidies the developers would receive;
- The efficiency of wind power;
- Any personal issues
Points which are relevant :
- Environmental
issues, ie.the 5 specific areas of
- visual impact on the landscape;
- archaeology;
- hydrology;
- soil composition;
- ecology -(Not opinions, but facts + informed opinion : (e.g.. British Trust for Ornithology rather than anecdotal evidence))
- Detrimental effect on listed buildings;
- Economic issues – tourism, farming;
- Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- Density of Population , building – area of least constraint – likely
to be some constraint
The planning committee
wouldn’t ignore strong public opinion (but petitions can be misleading)
- The national benefits must be weighed against the disadvantages.
If planning permission refused applicant can appeal, so the the case would go to a public enquiry.
The meeting continued with questions from the floor.
Having received a strong mandate to continue, the steering committee of the group was elected, with an option to co-opt further members onto the committee as appropriate.
People who attended the meeting were encouraged to complete a survey form which allowed them to indicate the level of involvement they wished to have in the future, and we thank those who completed the forms. If you have not yet filled one in and would like to click here
