Don't call us Nimbys, insist Staffordshire wind turbine protesters
A defiant battle to prevent wind farms from being built in the West Midlands has seen the region lag behind other areas in using the green technology. Matt Lloyd looks at the latest protest against turbines being built near a nature reserve.
For residents of Brineton, Staffordshire, the fight against a wind farm on their doorstep is more than a battle to protect the view from their window.
Denying the label of NIMBY, the campaigners who have formed the Stop Turbines Action Group (STAG) say their fight is about history, heritage and the environment.
Chairman Tony Lendon is convinced a six-turbine plan near the Mottey Meadow nature reserve would cause more harm to the Staffordshire countryside than it could ever repay in carbon emissions cuts.
And with a planning application due to be submitted by firm Wind Prospect, the group is gearing up for a battle to protect the area’s ancient roads, along with rare wild-flowers discovered more than two centuries ago by William Pitt.
Standing at more than 400 feet tall, the turbines on the Bradford Estate off King Street, would dwarf Big Ben. And it is the sheer size that threatens the environment, according to Mr Lendon.
“This is serious stuff. We’re not against progress but this is the wrong place,” he said. “The turbine blades are nine metres long so there will have to be road widening in the area.
“This is an old Saxon area, there are Saxon dwellings and lanes, there’s a lot here of historical interest. If they widen the roads, which are narrow and winding, then they’ll be gone forever.”
Mr Lendon also said the fields in the area were alluvial flood meadows, home to more than 240 species of wild flowers including the rare snake’s-head fritillary.
He said: “This is the most northern site for these meadow flowers in Europe, they were discovered by William Pitt in 1784. The fields, known as Mottey Meadows, received Natural England status a few years ago.
“At the base of the turbines would be 25 by 50 metres of concrete, the foundations go very deep, what if this causes the meadow to drain? We would lose the flowers.
“They would have to remove 55,000 tons of top-soil to build them and then bring in concrete for the foundations. That will all be done by trucks so how long will it be before the turbines even get rid of the carbon it takes to make them?”
On top of the environmental issues, STAG also challenges the efficiency of the turbines as figures emerged last month from power regulator Ofgem suggesting most wind farms operate at only 20 per cent of their maximum potential, with some producing less than 10 per cent of the power promised.
Mr Lendon said: “We’ve were told the turbines were 25 per cent efficient, now we’re told that’s closer to 20 per cent. And in cold spells that drops to one per cent, so you still need to get energy from other places.”
But with Government targets calling for 20 per cent of the UK’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, developers are under pressure to provide inland sites for the turbines.
