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3 April: As the article in Friday's TIMES clearly shows, relying on wind to power our electricity system is pointless, because the wind is both intermittent and unpredictable - so back-up needs to be provided at all times, even when the wind is blowing. During the cold winter, there were many days when the entire wind turbine 'fleet' in the UK produced 0.1% of our electricity requirement! Just do the sums to realise what an incredibly inefficient system this is.
19th February: We are now getting ready for the Hearing by North Dorset District Council into the Ecotricity application - in Gillingham on 1st March. Astonishingly, the Planning Officer has totally ignored the case made by our various well respected consultants, and recommended in favour of the application. As an example of Ecotricity misleading information, they claim that the 4 wind turbines at Silton would 'power 7185 households' (when the wind is blowing!) The planning officer calculates that the actual figure is 3887 - a minor difference to Dale! Let us hope that our elected Councillors will reflect the very strongly held local opinion, and vote to reject it.
28th January: Good news from Evesham, as shown on the front page. Let's hope our |Planners here take note of this commonsense decision! They are due to consider the application on 1st March in Gillingham.
8th January: Sorry - there has been a deathly silence over Christmas while my mind has been on other things. We had hoped that the Planning Officer would make his recommendation before Christmas, but it was not to be. Too much for him to read. It is expected any day now, so we expect the Development Control Committee to meet in early February to decide whether to accept or reject the Ecotricity application. We believe the case we have made is so strong, with so much hard evidence backing it up, that the Committee will once again decide to reject this totally inappropriate application. I wonder if Dale will grace us with his presence at the meeting, perhaps arriving in his Nemesis?
12th November: Not a lot happening. We are waiting to hear when North Dorset District Council will hold its Hearing; and, prior to that, we are anxious to know what the Planning Officer will recommend. But Dale is using the time constructively (and profitably, at our expense). You may have seen that he has unveiled his new electric car - the Nemesis - 'faster than a Ferrari'. Developed using Government subsidy and available to discerning customers for only £750,000.
18th October: Read the quotations on the 'Home' page - what Ecotricity say is their 'good neighbour' policy for siting turbines, and then North Dorset District Council stating that the harm that would be caused by the Turbines in Silton outweighs any possible benefits. So, Dale, do what you claim, and go away!
12th October: Our letters total is a bit over 1800 - a really vivid demonstration of the level of opposition to the Ecotricity application. The letters are mainly from the local area, but there are a surprising number from far and wide - from people who have visited the area, enjoyed its rural peace and tranquiility, and don't want it to be ruined by a power station which wouldn't produce much power. We also have a letter from Rural Dorset Tourism, stating quite clearly that, were the application to succeed, the effect on tourism would be disastrous.
2nd October: Our submission to NDDC is ready to go. It is a thorough and professional document, prepared for us by some of the top consultants iin their fields in the UK - in acoustics, landscape issues and photomontages. They point out the many deficiencies in the Ecotricity application - have a look at our Press Release in 'Stop Press'. Tbe planning basis for their previous application - the Regional Spatial Strategy, setting targets for each county's wind energy - has now been abolished. There really is no argument in favour of this wasteful and unsightly proposed wind turbine power station.
30th September: Have a look at our latest press release in 'Stop Press' - it points out that our consultants - all highly respected experts in their field - find the Ecotricity application deficient in several essential areas. We knew that all along - same as last time - but of course our word doesn't carry much weight with North Dorset District Council.
25th September: The Daily Express article in the 'Stop Press' page shows how much we will all be paying to support the wind industry - which is unable to pay its way without this subsidy. And then, on top of that, we need to pay for more conventional power generation for when the wind isn't blowing! Daft.
20th September: There are now about 1770 letters at NDDC, of which they reckon less than 20 are in favour. There are 5 bulging files so far! Also, do have a l ook at the press statement in 'Stop Press' - Ecotricity took a group from Black Ditch in Somerset, where they have plans for 5 WTs, to see their single turbine on the Mendips. Not sure what they hoped to achieve - but what they actually did was to prove to this group that these are noisy as well as unsightly and totally ineffective structures - good for generating cash for Dale and the landowner, but not much else.
17th September: Another Council - Wiltshire Southern Area - has now joined every other Council in the area in voting to oppose the Application. Come on, Dale, GO AWAY.
16 September: Have a look at the Photomontages page - our images can be viewed, and show what a dreadful intrusion these industrial structures would be - and to so little effect in terms of reducing greenhouse gasses.
14th September:Yesterday evening Buckhorn Weston and Kington Magna Parish Council joined ALL the others in thiis area in voting to oppose. If Dale Vince is listening, he should hear the message, which is loud and very clear: Ecotricity is NOT WELCOME here.
8th September: South Somerset District Council has now joined the list of Councils opposing this wretched application.
4th September: Excellent letters in yesterday's Blackmore Vale! They show just how thin is the Ecotricity case to build wind turbines here.
2nd September: So far there are around 1250 letters against this application. And all the Councils which have considered it have voted to oppose it. If this is not convincing evidence of the strength of local opposition, it's hard to think what is.
23 August: In their application, Ecotricity state: "It is estimated that the Silton wind turbines would generate approximately 23.7GWh per annum, generating power that we estimate would be sufficient to meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 7,185 typical UK households. This is equivalent to 28% of the households within
North Dorset. In generating electricity from a renewable source it is expected that the proposed development would prevent the emission of 10,195 tonnes of CO2 each year as well as significant quantities of SO2 and NOx.
This figure assumes a 29.4% capacity factor as per the 2008 UK onshore wind park performance, deduced from the “onshore wind load factors” in table 7.4 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2009, from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). Please note that the actual performance of the Silton Wind Park may vary."
And how! Ecotricity had an anemometer mast at the site for 18 months - yet have not used these data, presumably because the wind was far below the UK average of 29.4 m/s, which includes the windy north of Scotland. We reckon the actual wind was at Silton is a lot less!
23rd August: See if you can spot the 'blimp', flying at 120m very close to the area proposed for the turbines. We can clearly see it from Shaftesbury, the Cranborne Chase AONB, Mere, Gillingham..... - from miles in all directions! And if we had 4 huge turbines at that height, we would lose a magical area, and gain.....what? A trickle of electricity, and a negligible saving of CO2. Why not put the investment into something that works - such as tidal power, or fitting every new house with solar panels?
21st August: Ecotricity tell us that they have a 'good neighbour' policy and 'are committed to building turbines where we can be sure they will be good neighbours'. Well, Gillingham, Penselwood, Zeals, Silton and Cucklington Councils (so far!) have voted, in most cases unanimously, to oppose the Ecotricity application. Does Dale Vince not realise that we really, really do not want his useless industrial structures as neighbours?
19th August: Yet another Parish Council - this time Zeals has voted unanimously to oppose the application.
18th August: See the 'Home' page - 1200 letters of objection so far! What better indication of local opposition could there be! But keep it up - we need lots more, and the Councillors then really have to take notice.
15th August: We have now received the first indication of what these huge structures would look like were they to be approved. The size and position shown on the 'photomontages' page are accurate although of course they would not be red! Look at the 'view' from Whistley Farm - would any sane person pay to hire a holiday cottage there with that view, never mind the noise and flicker?
11th August: Another sign of local opinion - yesterday evening Penselwood Parish Council voted - again, unanimously - to oppose the Ecotricity application. Is Dale Vince listening?
10th August: An excellent start to our campaign - Gillingham Town Council voted unanimously yesterday evening to oppose the Ecotricity application. Last time around, every single one of the Parish and Town Councils, and South Somerset District Council voted to oppose - as did North Dorset District Council. The letter-writing campaign against the application was also by far the biggest that NDDC has ever experienced. After all that, how on earth can Dale Vince put us all through the expense and misery of a further application? (I guess the answer is simple - MONEY!)
8th August: We understand that North Dorset District Council has extended the time for us to respond to the Application until 15th September. This is better than 20th August, but still does not give us time properly to prepare our response - all of our Consultants have to prepare their reports for us and we then need to combine them into a comprehensible document. Considering that Ecotricity has had over a year to prepare its case, it seems to us that an extra month, until mid October, is the least we should expect.
28th July: The application has been validated and the planning reference will be published in the Blackmore Vale on the 29th July. The application can be seen on the North Dorset District Council website. Go to the Development Control web page and then click on the' Silton Windfarm Proposal'. Write now if you wish to oppose. The details are at the bottom of this page.
27th July: We are told that the Ecotricity application is being validated this week and the details will be published on Thursday 29th July. I noted yesterday that at 1015 hrs all the UK wind turbines were producing a total of 84MW. There are 253 onshore windfarms in the UK, and 5 offshore. They have a total of 2909 turbines. The CAPACITY of these windfarms (the figure the wind industry always talks about) is 4580 MW. Therefore the 84 MW yesterday was 1.8%of their capacity. There have been several days in the past month when it has been even less. As the Chairman of Shell said on the radio this morning - the only reason for investing in wind is the huge subsidies available. Without these, no business would invest in wind.
23rd July 2010: At 8.30 this morning, the total output from all the wind turbines across the UK was 28 MW, which (again) was 0.1% of the UK requirement. The absurdity is that, even if we we had all the wind farms that Dale Vince and his pals want, they would still produce only a trickle. And yet the subsidies (paid for from our electricity bills)continue to roll in.
20th July 2010: The following amazing statement has appeared on the Ecotricity website. It seems to overlook the fact that the Planning Committee decision was unanimously against the proposal, and that more than 'some' local people were opposed: 2000 letters against - by far the biggest opposition there has ever been to a planning application in North Dorset! By the way, at 1715 hrs today, wind across the whole UK was producing 44 MW, which is 0.1% of the UK output of electricity. What would happen were to depend on wind for 20% of our needs?
"Our application for six turbines went to committee late last year. Planning officers felt that the proposal met all their strict criteria and satisfied environmental standards, but it was clear at the committee meeting that some of its members and some people in the local community still had concerns with the proposal regarding landscape and cultural heritage, and the methodology of the noise monitoring studies. Our aim is always to bring maximum environmental benefit with minimum environmental impact. In response to this feedback, we have spent the last few months working hard to address these main concerns by undertaking further detailed assessments. We have now adjusted the proposal accordingly by revising the layout and number of turbines on the site, and also undertaking additional noise monitoring at nearby residences."
19th July 2010: Tim and Debbie Allard and their two sons own a farm less than a kilometre from the proposed turbine site. Theirs is the fourth generation of the family to farm here. In 2006, they took out a large loan to build two holiday cottages in this idyllic, peaceful site. The cottages have been a great success - but their guests have been unanimous in their view that they would not consider returning if the turbines are built. They would spoil the whole reason for coming. "This would be ruinous for us and for the other holiday businesses in the area", says Debbie. "We've invested our life savings in the cottages and couldn't survive here if the business goes under."
15th July 2010: I'm just getting a link to a really excellent paper from CPRE explaining clearly and powerfully why wind turbines are a waste of your and my money.Click here to read it now!
10th July 2010: Ecotricity delivered its application for 4 wind turbines to North Dorset District Council. The Council will now validate the proposal and then issue the formal number of the application. From that date, we have 3 weeks in which to respond - in comparison with the more than one year which Ecotricity has had to prepare its application! In this time, we will have to brief our experts in acoustics, landscape issue and photomontages - we can't do this until we see the application and confirm the exact position of the turbines - and they will have to prepare their reports. However, we have already requsted an extension to the 3 week period - last time we were granted 5 weeks and we hope for at least the same this time.
What do we have to do? If, like us, you oppose this proposal, you should write to the Council - but your letter will need to refer to the planning number, which is 2/2010/0731/PLNG. The address is:
Development Control, North Dorset District Council,
Nordon,
Salisbury Road,
Blandford Forum DT11 7LL.
or email to: devcontrol@north-dorset.gov.uk - but your email must include your name and postal address.