Is Southport next?  

January 2006

Wind farm developers are increasingly moving to shallow water off the coasts. How long before Southport gets conned into a wind farm? Are out-of-touch politicians and unsuspecting media softening us up for more of the same?

A wind turbine in Southport

The unfortunate pseudo-eco obsession with ‘Wind Turbines’ appears to be a 'Green Mania' now infiltrating the town of Southport, but do we really need to be forced into sham eco-measures, by grinning officials, that could risk our health, our environment and possibly wreck our economy too?

First we see the so-called Southport Eco Centre proudly displaying

 one of these monstrosities.  Later we note John Pugh  MP

 (pictured above) joining in this trendy ‘Eco-Fad’ with several 'nice'

 press articles of him speaking in favour of such

 controversial items.

Articles in both the Champion and Southport Visiter show Mr Pugh

 to be as supportive of the wind turbine device as he is with

 man-made global warming issues, with the Champion

 (4th January, 06) even displaying this politician smiling profusely

 as he happily touches a small turbine in apparent admiration.

Wrong signals for Southport's MP?

Pugh's apparent  support for this idea is strange as we have mentioned before

 that Tony Dawson, Pugh's senior assistant and Oldham's Libdem prospective parliamentary

 candidate, who recently failed in his political attempt to unseat Oldham’s MP Phil Woolas,

 was we believe present at a large protest rally in that locality which included

Professor Bellamy.

Dr Bellamy spoke robustly 'against' wind turbines yet Dawson appears

 to have been unsuccessful in conveying Dr Bellamy's expert warnings to Mr Pugh about such controversial contraptions.

MP Phil Woolas described the planned turbines as  “ogres of the north”.

Objections to wind farm proposals are still in progress in that locality.

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Before we are all perhaps finally hoodwinked, one fine day, into a massive and costly local 'wind farm' let us perhaps bear a few other facts in mind:

• Many residents living in close proximity to these wind farms find the noise levels completely intolerable and are infuriated that assurances about noise given in advance turn out to be valueless. Doctors have suggested that turbine noise, which may be low key yet disturbing and unpleasant, may link to psychological effects, headaches and depression. Noise levels cannot be accurately predicted in advance.  

• Authorities in Spain reported considerable numbers of birds of 13 species secluded under European Union law have been killed by wind turbines (Windpower monthly 2.2.94). Turbines in California have on average destroyed between 200-300 Redtail Hawks and up to 60 Golden Eagles every year, whilst it is estimated that 7000 migrating birds a year are killed at other wind turbine sites in Southern California. (Source -California Energy Commission).

• The wind turbine is regulated to generate power at low to moderate wind speeds, when the production is a trickle. As the wind strengthens and real power becomes obtainable, they have to be shut down or they may blow over.

• The two foremost European wind farms are close to each other in Powys, at Llandinam and Carno. Between them, they have 159 turbines and cover many thousands of acres. Jointly they take a year to manufacture less than four days' output from a solitary 2000 MW conventional power station. Together, they have a productivity averaging 20 MW (in winter, UK demand peaks at about 53,000 MW.)

• Turbines can interrupt TV reception. This was noted in 1994 when the BBC and the Independent Television Commission recommended the Department of the Environment to oblige wind farm developers to reinstate reception where wind farms caused intrusion.

• The main unfavourable impact that wind farm expansion is probable to have is on local economies depending on ‘tourism’. Wind speed sites are frequently positioned in the areas holding the premium landscapes. Wind developers are consequently targeting those localities where the sightseer trade consists of visitors seeking harmony and unspoiled countryside.

• One of the most dependable critiques of wind-generation of electricity to date is the Darmstadt Manifesto on the exploitation of wind energy in Germany. Its main influence develops from its signatories - over one hundred leading intellectuals in fields including -  Medicine, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Geography,  Mechanical Engineering and Thermodynamic Science,  Land Administration, and  Agricultural Science.

• Health and safety (apart from noise pollution) is a factor too. Apart from the hazard of blades becoming disconnected or even disintegrating due to fatigue etc, there is a real danger that chunks of ice can form on them in wintry conditions and then be thrown considerable distances when the wind picks up and the blades begin to rotate. Three of these wind turbine ‘factories’ in the UK were closed for safety reasons in April 2000 due to metal fatigue.

• The RSPB has objected to 76 wind farm proposals (on and offshore) between 2000-2004 and has raised concerns about a further 129. The RSPB recently objected to a proposed 234 turbine wind farm on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides, on an extremely fragile and special area for wildlife

• Wind powered electricity is estimated to be two and a half times more costly than conventional sources. It would not be economic without a massive subsidy. This comes either from our tax or from the price we pay for electricity. Consumers in Denmark, which has the highest penetration of wind power in Europe, also pay the most for their electricity.  

   

Public Danger?

Southport's  Eco-Centre (pictured above) with its fashionable wind turbine.

Has the local Council considered the growing evidence against these inefficient contraptions and the health/safety risks pointed out by many doctors and environmentalists?

This link below gives evidence of the proposals already in place in the Liverpool Bay area.

http://www.windprospect.com/SeaScape.htm

Wind Turbine collapses - what CAN happen when one of these metal monsters goes wrong...

Please click here for a copy of a news clip about a 300 foot turbine that collapsed in the USA after the brakes failed and the blades struck the tower

The link below shows a blazing turbine and ripped up birds.

http://www.mwtlewis.org.uk/gallery2.htm

According to leading anti-wind turbine eco-campaigners ‘Country Guardian’:

'Windfarms are promoted with "storylines" based on unsubstantiated predictions of global warming.'

For evidence of this accurate claim consider this quote from the wind company 'SeaScale' - "As well as providing electricity, Burbo Offshore will help tackle the problem of global warming." http://www.windprospect.com/SeaScape.htm

Professor David Bellamy has also condemned these structures saying:

“These are not things to farm the wind and make energy – they are things to milk the taxpayer.”

Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford  Niall Ferguson says:  

“Nimbyism aside, my objection is not just that wind turbines are a much more expensive way of generating power than conventional power stations. We could all put up with bigger bills if it meant, in the cant phrase, saving the planet. The key problem is that wind power is so inefficient that it scarcely replaces conventional

Stephan Kohler, the head of Germany's energy agency said:

"Wind energy is expensive. That's true. You can't dispute it,"

These are just a few of the many serious reasons that these landscape ruining eyesores should be challenged at each and every opportunity. No amount of comfy  ecological  ‘lip-service’ gestures from either our MP John Pugh or Sefton’s dictatorial  Council (who continue to ignore/promote the disgusting destruction of our countryside at Kew) will change these hard facts of life! 

Sefton Council approved bulldozers ready to demolish yet more of Southport's disappearing countryside for profits at Kew

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Wind farms 'make people sick who live up to a mile away'

Would  Southport's debt-ridden health service really welcome any more pressure thanks to possible future wind farm proposals in the region?

Dr Amanda Harry, a local GP who did the research, said: "People demonstrated a range of symptoms from headaches, migraines, nausea, dizziness, palpitations and tinnitus to sleep disturbance, stress, anxiety and depression. These symptoms had a knock-on effect in their daily lives, causing poor concentration, irritability and an inability to cope."

Similar problems have been found by Dr Bridget Osborne, a doctor in Moel Maelogan, a village in North Wales, where three turbines were erected in 2002. She has presented a paper to the Royal College of General Practitioners detailing a "marked" increase in depression among local people. "There is a public perception that wind power is 'green' and has no detrimental effect on the environment," said Dr Osborne. "However, these turbines make low-frequency noises that can be as damaging as high-frequency noises. "When wind farm developers do surveys to assess the suitability of a site they measure the audible range of noise but never the infrasound measurement - the low-frequency noise that causes vibrations that you can feel through your feet and chest. "This frequency resonates with the human body - their effect being dependent on body shape. There are those on whom there is virtually no effect, but others for whom it is incredibly disturbing."

Read more about these worrying  health issues by clicking the link below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/25/nwind25.xml

We wonder - how long will it be before some 'victim' takes a huge wind company or council to court for litigation against health damages? In this day and age of the 'Solicitor' - it's just got to happen soon!

RSPB warnings in Scotland

http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/action/lewis/impacts.asp

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Wind Turbines - Ecological ruination of beautiful landscapes, waste of resources, highly inefficient, danger to both man and wildlife, based on unfounded ideas about global warming, the 'Darling' eco-vehicle of ambitious politicians/council assistants, massively costly, useless in unfavourable weather cycles, eco-toys to impress the sensationalist media and blinkered populace, can wreck your TV viewing etc...............

Need we say more?

Don't make us laugh - Get real!

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