Angry residents in a north Shropshire village have vowed to fight plans to site seven wind turbines near their homes.
Villagers in Woore and Norton in Hales, near Market Drayton, fear energy firm Nuon Renewables’ plans for a windfarm on Poplar Lane are due to be submitted to North Shropshire District Council shortly.
They are now waiting for the plans to be made public, but have vowed to campaign against the windfarm.
Terry May, co-ordinator from the Veto on Rural Turbine Expansion (Vortex) windfarm action group in north Shropshire, said a public meeting at Norton in Hales was expected to be called for April 15, if the plans were validated and made public by the council by then.
She said it is understood there will be seven 105-metre turbines on the site.
“We can’t really do anything more than we have done until we see the plans, but when they are revealed we have then got three weeks to gather comments against the windfarm,” she said. “We think it’s going to be far too close to people.
“The noise is our concern, because together with the flickering you get when the sun is behind a turbine, it upsets people’s health. They should not be put so close to people’s homes.
“Also, there’s the visual intrusion on the area because it is a beautiful area, and in the past they have always refused planning permission for the tiniest little log cabin on the grounds of visual intrusion.
“Also, these things have been known to fall down, and the arms fly off; it’s just not the right place to put them.”
The Vortex group, which was founded a year ago, has about 800 members.
Nuon Renewables and North Shropshire District Council were unavailable for comment today.
21 Comments
Don’t these people see the bigger picture??!
How do these idiots expect our Nation’s and indeed our World’s environmental problems to ever be sorted out if the solutions we have are subject to silly objections like this?!
They should be ashamed of themselves.
This reaction is a sad indication of why the planet is doomed.Self interest will over-ride the greater
good until the Atlantic is lapping on the shores of Shropshire.
Personally I think they are elegant and would be quite happy to have one in my garden.
when I saw the heading I thought this was about the planned open cast mine. However my point is that whether you plan renewable or coal based energy, people will object if its on their doorstep. How do people think we’re to meet our GROWING energy needs without using all available sources, including nuclear? We’re all going to have to make sacrifices in the future if society is to continue.
Do wake up Jemima,
These things make a lot of noise, and only produce a fraction of the power the experts tell you. Do you want to wait for the wind to blow before you put the kettle on?
Our PM is now going to buy us French nuclear power stations.
Or do you prefer to back Japanese industry?
Brian. Noise must be a dreadful side effect I am sure, but see the bigger picture!!!
I am not arguing the point of Downing Street buying into Nuclear power stations. I am simply saying that wind power can surely only be a good starting block for finding our planet a greener way of providing power.
Either I have my facts wrong, or you are being slightly OTT - I am pretty sure wind power is sophisticated enough that you would not have to wait on a gust of wind to boil the kettle?!
I can only assume you are one of these silly silly people who are opposing the clever clever idea of the wind turbines??
‘the infiltrator’ I would have one in my garden too…
Brian, I have heard wind turbines in use. None of them made any noise. Are you exagerating, perhaps?
Of course, there’s a river not to far away from the site. Perhaps it will be useful to provide coolant for a nice, safe nuclear power plant near Woore.
i thought wind turbines on land had been discredited as they failed to supply sufficient energy, down here in devon and cornwall they are backtracking on land based wind turbines in favour of sea born turbines were there is also more wind available. there are also plans to build a boom across the bristol channel to provide electricity from the 4 daily tides. not sure if a mini boom across the roden and the tern would be energy efficient.
as a further aside these french nuclear reactors will be run by our energy companies and who owns these? correct the french, i used to be happy with the old m e b and who privatised it and others, yes our friendly tax lowering school closing tories.
Its true there is some noise generated by wind turbines, although its not much more than the noise of the wind itself, and certainly would not intrude on anyone in Woore as they are not near enough to the houses.
The alternative to wind farms is of course individual wind turbines attached to each house. They are already on sale in B&Q, they produce little energy and make enough noise to be intrusive to neighbours. If people continue their NIMBY attitude to wind farms, this is what we will end up with, then they really will have something to moan about.
The fears and concerns expressed by local residents, whilst understandable, do tend to smack of NIMBY attitude.
Far, far better to have clean wind turbines around the countryside (travel anywhere in Germany and you’ll see thousands of these things pretty much everywhere) than the alternatives. It really is suprising just how quickly you become accustomed to them.
We need to encourage companies that are prepared to invest in clean renewable enrgy generation, not shoot them down.
Im for it!!!
An efficient and green form of energy generation without environmental and public health risks? - No. A symbol of political will and bullying in the face of reasoned and reasonable public opposition? - Yes.
Brian - ‘Do you want to wait for the wind to blow before you put the kettle on?’
haha take it you dont no much about storing engery then, I can just see a village trying to blow the turbine round because they would all like a brew haha!!
Wind turbines don’t reduce pollution, they simply shift the burden away from their neighbourhood. When one takes into account how much pollution is produced during their construction, transportation and implementation, then consider the sheer quantity of turbines required to even come close to matching the power output of a fossil fuelled power station, to say nothing of their fairly short lifespans, they are only environmentally friendly if you happen to be standing next to one. Rather than focusing on an unreliable and questionable technology such as this, our government really should be looking into more effective energy generation methods.
And as for noise, wind turbines do in fact produce a significant amount of noise pollution. They have been compared to the volume of a jet engine, at the most extreme end of the scale.
how dare these villagers demand a say in what happens to their environment? what right have they got to retain any of the natural beauty of their surroundings?
soon they will be wanting a say in how their council tax is spent or the local school is run or any number of such things!
they should be ashamed of themselves for wanting any kind of say in what happens in or near their village. cant they just be part of the bigger picture and allow the government to do their thinking for them?
soon the silly things will want to object about any number of other government policies.
I have stood at the base of a large wind turbine and the noise is almost undetectable - ‘Man’ is talking nonsense.
Yes they have a carbon footprint and yes the wind does drop sometimes, but Buildwas Power station does not generate on certain days as the poison it produces will be blown over Telford.
Renewables are the only solution, micro generation and low consumption are the only sensible way forward, those who object should live without electricity for a week and see how it alters their lives. We were happy to live with windmills when they ground our corn and wheat !
If we want electricity then there is always a price, a few mills here and there seems a small price to pay - people who live in beauty spots should be a little less selfish and arrogant - most people have to live in built up areas, whom I don’t envy.
I know, lets build lots of nuclear power stations, for which we have no fuel and cannot deal with the waste and which won’t be ready in time anyway - honestly I despair.
PS. come and build as many wind turbines as you like in Bicton - I for one won’t object.
Windmill turbines have there use and place and one of them is not being installed near peoples home! go on U tube and search for “Windmill out of control in Denmark” and then imagine one near your home! the power generated by them is not great and they need power from the grid to start!
Windmill turbines should never be installed near homes and if you doubt it goto U tube and search for Windmill out of control in Denmark” that might change your mind!
As a short-term solution to sustainable energy production, I can’t think of a more graceful way of producing electricity.
That You Tube footage looks like a controlled destruction test. Why else would they have caught it on film.