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Support the Westmill Wind Farm

The site currently has planning permission for 5 Vestas 850kW wind turbines. The differences between the Bonus and the Vestas are that the Bonus turbines have blades that are 5m longer, but they are quieter, have a slower rotor speed and, most importantly, an extra 40% more electricity than the Vestas: 12.6 GWh/year compared to 8.8 GWh/yr, which is the equivalent electricity consumption for around 3700 ‘average’ homes (or 9,000 people) per year i.e. a small market town like Faringdon plus it’s surrounding villages.

The extra output as well as making environmental sense improves the economics of the scheme which will enable 2 out of the 5 wind turbines to be owned by local people through a new local co-operative to be set up by Baywind Energy Co-operative.

However, a small but well resourced number of local individuals are employing planning, environmental and legal consultants to hide the bigger issues under the details and attempting to persuade the District Council that the impact of the wind turbines on the landscape (or more accurately, view from their properties) is more important than the threat of Climate Change.

To provide answers to local concerns an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out and is on deposit in Highworth and Faringdon Libraries.  The non-technical summary is also available on the web.

The EIA shows that the only significant impact of the wind turbines is their visual impact on the local landscape (within 3 km). A impact that over 70% of local people have no problems accepting (according to both a public opinion survey carried out by Oxford Brookes University and also feedback from local exhibitions), and which ceases after 25 years when the planning permission expires and the wind turbines are taken down. At 50m hub height, with 31m long blades the wind turbines are tall objects and will be visible over a much wider area. (The Bonus machines are an extra 5m higher overall than the Vestas, which have a hub height of 50m but only 26m long blades.)

There are no other environmental impacts; the environmental impacts of fossil fuel combustion or nuclear fission for electricity production will however be impacting on generations to come.

Any letters of support will help balance the opposition (who hope that if they can get this application refused they can get the existing permission revoked) and encourage the councillors to keep an awareness of the bigger picture amongst all the detail.

To make it easier, you can download a model letter (Word document), which you can then amend with your own details and points.

The planning application reference number is WAT/1611/12

The address to send letters is 
The Planning Officer
Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House
Abingdon
Oxon
OX14 3JN

For more details, see the article by Adam Twine, the farmer involved on changingclimate.org.