Save Maer Hills... from NIMBYs!
(it's part of the
planet!)
There's been enough hot air howling around Maer
Hills recently to make this windfarm the most productive in the land. We think the
turbines look great - but we're also pretty
sure that the anti-wind campaigners haven't showed you these pictures or
you'd also be wondering what all the fuss was about....
Attitudes must change: want
electricity = make space for wind turbines
Anyone
who wants to have energy for the future but expects the associated
infrastructure not to be large or intrusive is deluding themselves. The
planet needs all the renewable energy it can get and in spite of the
Public Relations disaster that the Maer Hills windfarm developers
have so far brought upon themselves it is now time to support their
proposals.
From the end of Appleton Drive in Baldwins
Gate... is that intrusive?
From Chapel Corner in Hill Chorlton.... do you
REALLY think this would stop someone buying your house?
From the top of Madeley Park Wood.... do YOU
think the noise
will scare the living daylights out of the horses?
And from Top Rock Road on A53 at Ashley....
so drivers will be skidding off the road? yeah, right!
So now you can see the merry dance
you've been led by the Noisy NIMBY brigade let's get real!
That the plans for the wind
turbines will be approved sooner or later is beyond all doubt. It's just a matter of
when. The NIMBYs had their day when the planning application was
refused at a stitched up meeting of Newcastle Borough Council on 10
Feb 2009 - but they will undoubtedly be passed on appeal by central Government some time
soon.
So watch this space for ways of expressing
your support for the wind turbines - the
NIMBY anti-campaigners are highly organised and we can expect them to
continue to generate a massive number of letters based on
their lies, propaganda and scare tactics. We also know that most people privately support the proposals but keep quiet so as not to provoke
an argument.
Points you might like to think
about:-
1. Much of the opposition noise
has been whipped up by an orchestrated campaign and objections have
been put into people's mouths based on no real intelligent debate.
This has given little opportunity for the issues to be properly
presented, discussed and understood by local people.
2. The proposals will be approved
sooner or later - probably on appeal. Rather than fight the
application it makes more sense to ensure that the developers are forced
to take appropriate action to preserve and enhance the environment
and wildlife of the area and to bring benefit to the local community.
3. Maer Hills is a technically a
good site for wind turbines and interest in using the site isn't
going to go away. If it wasn't Claymoss - a small
local business - making these plans it would be e-on or nPower - and
they have the resources to crush the most determined of local
protests.
4. It is important that the area
makes its contribution to the generation of renewable energy that is
essential for the management our sustainable future.
5. The turbines will provide a
local point of interest - be a symbol of a clean sustainable future
and have an educational value.
6. The plans include a visitor car
park - you might like to suggest that Claymoss are required to
provide and maintain on-site educational and environmental
resources.
7. Many people like wind turbines. Objections about the visual
impact of the turbines are very much personal opinion and experience shows that - once built
- many
people come to love the elegant structures as a local landmark.
8. Windmills are one of our oldest
form of power and have existed in harmony with the natural
environment for centuries.
9. That the current commercial
pine forests have zero environmental or wildlife value and that Claymoss's plans to clear-fell exclusion zones around the turbines
and allow them to regenerate with the natural vegetation of the area
will enhance the environment and wildlife habitats. In fact, some
environmental groups are saying that from a wildlife perspective it
would be better to fell the entire conifer plantation and let the
original oak, birch and other natural vegetation regenerate as it
was 60 years ago.
Followers of the development of
public policy on onshore wind developments will be aware that the
Government is currently facing a dilemma. The UK's installed base of
wind power generation is currently around 3GW (2,500 turbines), with around four
times that held up somewhere in the planning process. The time taken
for a wind development to come on line after first proposal is
around TEN YEARS and that is clearly far too long if they are
to have a hope of meeting legally binding renewable energy targets.
The fact: Huge expansion
in onshore wind is a vital part of this country's renewable energy
strategy and cannot be allowed to fail. Delays in getting planning
permission is now recognised as the renewable power industry's
biggest concern - and that well organised anti-wind protest groups
are a major factor in this. Expect to see the planning laws change
quite soon.
The TRUTH......
-
A windfarm makes it far less likely that any further development will
ever take place, leaving the rest of the environment
undisturbed.
-
Windmills have co-existed with nature for
centuries.
-
The conifer plantation on Maer
Hills is featureless and of little environmental value. The
exclusion zones around the turbines will allow the original
heathland to regenerate and create a haven for wildlife.
-
Windmills are not ugly - they are
graceful symbols of a cleaner sustainable future which remind us to
respect the climate that sustains us.
-
Wind turbines are not noisy -
turbine noise is subject to regulation and the noise of the wind
in the trees easily drowns out the sound of the sails. We know: we visited a big windfarm in Yorkshire to check it
out before we made up our minds.
-
True: the wind does not blow all
the time in any given place, (which is precisely why we need
installations in many different places all linked into the National
Grid) - so a combination of wind, tidal, wave and solar coupled
with a new pan-European supergrid can help to ensure we have clean
renewable energy
for a
sustainable future.
-
Anti-wind protestors
represent a tiny percentage of the population and they are
having an unacceptable impact on the country's energy and
climate change programme. Enough is enough and now is the time
for commonsense to prevail.
So...
WRITE IN AND
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT FOR THESE PROPOSALS NOW!
Anybody who cares about climate
change can get cheap biodiesel from
here
Send
us your news and comments!
maerhills@hotmail.co.uk
and spread the word!
Maer Hills Action Group
set up by
local people in response to the proposal to build wind turbines at
Maer Hills
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