Purbeck wind farm protest gathers momentum (From Dorset Echo)

Purbeck wind farm protest gathers momentum

8:32am Tuesday 4th November 2008 in

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A PRESSURE group demonstrated against a proposed wind turbine in Purbeck and then made off with the developer’s information leaflets.

The public rally by the Dorset Against Rural Turbines (Dart) group and the county branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) opposed plans for Alaska Wind Farm in Master’s Pit, East Stoke.

A dozen people gathered with placards and shouted ‘wind turbines make bats lungs explode’, ‘no giant wind turbines here’ outside the Springfield Country Hotel near Wareham.

The demonstration coincided with a public exhibition on Infinergy’s revised plan, which has reduced six turbines to four.

Dave Littlewood of Rushton Lane, East Stoke, said the scheme had already devalued his house £75,000-£100,000. He said: “No one’s particularly against wind turbines, it’s just where they’re being located next to houses.

“My house has a beautiful backdrop, that’s what I paid for and now everything I’ve worked for is being taken from me.

“The noise will affect us as well.”

President of Dorset CPRE Terry Stewart said 410ft turbines would be a ‘massive visual blot’ on an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and wind power, being unpredictable, would require fossil fuel back up.

He added the developers’ ‘massive subsidies’ were ‘£1 billion’ this year.

Mr Stewart and another protester then made off with Infinergy’s information packs from the display.

Infinergy project director Herb Lindlahr said: “They came in here shouting, stole everything and legged it.”

He denied making a billion pounds as ‘total rubbish’ and said they could only claim Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) ‘per electricity unit we put into the grid and sell.’ Mr Lindlahr said the proposed site was a quarry, outside an AONB, and they had worked with statutory bodies including Natural England to minimise the effect on wildlife.

He said the scheme could supply enough energy for 11-14 per cent of Dorset’s targets.

He added: “Global warming is not science fiction, it’s brutal reality.

“We must act now in our own backyards to secure a good future for the next generation.”

Infinergy intends to submit a new planning application to Purbeck District Council before the end of the year.