Onshore wind turbines are “damaging” the UK’s valued landscapes and intruding on the most tranquil areas, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
In a report out today, the organisation calls for a way to be found of “reconciling climate change mitigation and landscape protection”.
The CPRE contends that there is a dramatic proliferation of onshore wind turbines and an exponential growth in wind turbine planning applications.
Despite recent surveys showing strong public support for wind farms, the CPRE says local communities are “powerless” in the face of “speculative applications from big, well-funded developers”.
The CPRE is urging the government to take a locally accountable and strategically planned approach to onshore wind development, providing details of how many turbines are to be built and where.
A strategic approach should recognise the importance of the local landscape and character and ensure that that is protected by local planning authorities in their decisions.
Furthermore, the CPRE also wants to see the renewables industry take on responsibility for decommissioning onshore wind turbines and restoring the landscape once they stop working or reach the end of their useful life.
But Friends of the Earth campaigner Andrew Pendleton says it’s time to stop complaining about wind turbines and get on with the urgent task of cleaning up Britain’s energy supply.
“Wind turbines should always be sensitively sited, but one of the biggest threats to our countryside is climate change – and this is exactly what wind power can help defeat,” he says.
For further information:
www.cpre.org.uk/how-you-can-help/take-action/climate-change-and-energy/item/2826-take-action-to-stop-onshore-wind-turbines-damaging-the-countryside
www.foe.co.uk
Related stories:
Nine out of ten want to see Britain rely more on renewables (23-Apr)
UK politicians out of step with public over wind farms (20-Apr)
UK government reiterates support for wind power (28-Feb)
UK lagging behind European neighbours in number of wind turbines (15-Jun 2011)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5061/
