At
up to 115 m tall, the three turbines proposed at Carwath Farm would be
massive industrial-scale structures, each of them being 50% larger than
those alongside the A595 at Bothel. They would dominate Rosley and the
surrounding area and have a serious impact on the landscape from the
northern fells of the Lake District National Park to the Solway Estuary.
Also, there are serious concerns regarding residential amenity, health,
property values, wild-life and the local economy.
Potential impacts of the proposed turbines include:-
• Landscape –
The proposed turbines would be a large-scale industrial intrusion into
the peaceful rural landscape adjoining the National Park. They would be
prominent in views of the fells from almost anywhere on the Solway
Plain.
• Residential amenity –
Such large turbines would have an overwhelming and oppressive visual
impact on the surrounding area. Their continual presence, and
unremitting movement whenever the wind was blowing, would have the
potential to make life in some nearby properties intolerable.
• Noise & health –
There is increasing worldwide evidence that low frequency noise from
such large wind turbines can seriously affect people's health at
distances up to several km. Symptoms include sleep deprivation, stress,
heart disease, hypertension, depression, and anxiety. Groups reported to
be particularly at risk include children and noise-sensitive
individuals of any age.
• Property values –
The UK Government Valuation Office has admitted that the value of homes
near turbines can be reduced by tens of thousands of pounds.
• Wildlife –
There is worldwide evidence of the loss of birds and bats. (Recently a
barn owl was killed by a small farm turbine at Kirkbride)
• Tourism –
In a recent poll by the John Muir Trust, 43% of people said they would
be less likely to visit scenic areas affected by wind farms. Such an
effect could have serious implications for local tourism and related
businesses.
Claimed benefits of industrial-scale wind 'farms':-
• Global CO2 discharges –
Any apparent reductions in such discharges are largely off-set by
increased discharges due to inefficient operation of conventional power
stations to balance the power generated by wind farms. Globally, such
discharges are increased as a result of energy-using industries being
driven abroad to use cheaper power from coal-fired power stations.
• Energy security –
At times when winds over the whole country are too low to generate
electricity, the total demand has to be met by conventional power
stations. Wind farms simply duplicate – at enormous cost – a small part
of the national generating capacity without increasing energy security.
Details of the application:-
The planning application documents are now on the Allerdale website at:
Reference No: 2/2013/0227.
On the 'Planning Application Details' page, scroll down past the list of Consultees to 'Images/Documents'.
What you can do to oppose this application:-
To
help to stop this totally inappropriate and intrusive development,
please write to the Allerdale Planning Manager by email, or post, or via
the above website. The email address is:
planning@allerdale.gov.uk and the postal address is: Allerdale House, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 3YJ .
Individual
letters of objection are particularly valuable. They need not exceed a
single sentence but if you can draw attention to the particular aspects
of the proposals that concern you, this would be helpful to the planning
authority. Anyone can object, including several people in a household,
and they do not need to be Allerdale residents.
Please include the above Reference No. and the word 'object' or 'objection'
in a prominent position to ensure your communication is accurately
recorded. Further information on wind farms in Cumbria, links to
scientific papers and reports regarding the effects of wind turbine
noise on health, and general advice on fighting wind farms is available
at
