Windfarm developer's website misleads

Since writing my last piece I thought that really I should see if the developer for the proposed 'Davidstow Community Windfarm' had a website as I am keen to be fair in my argument. Like most I have my prejudices but do have some ability to look at matters very objectively and also I can be very forensic in my analysis.

So if you click here you can see what this scheme is all about from the developers point of view. Now the saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words and I would suggest that with a critical eye a map can also be worth a thousand words. So looking down the links on the left hand side of the page my eyes lit up when I saw the words 'Interactive Map' and I quickly went to it. Very interesting it turns out to be! On clicking to launch the map you are first presented with four locations outside the delineated area of development on which you can click to see how the windfarm would look after erection compared with the same view now. You might think these would be labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4. Wrong! They are shown as Viewpoints 3, 4, 8 and 13. H'm, no indication where there may be other viewpoints. Strange that! Number 13 at Showery Tor is the nearest of these 4 viewpoints and looking over Crowdy Reservoir it's not surprising that the windfarm is very visible. Very honest these windfarm people! Or are they. My eyesight might not be the best but I can't see the blades in the 'predicted view'. Perhaps they are turning too fast! They will add considerably to the height of the structures of course. And Showery Tor is very close indeed to the National Trust owned Rough Tor, Cornwall's second highest hill. It's worth mentioning at this point that Davidstow is not far from the Delabole Windfarm (Britain's first) where plans are afoot to upgrade to much larger turbines and so there would be a sort of cumulative affect to one's view, particularly from the 'Westdowns' area I would have thought (Viewpoint 8).

From this page one can now click on a close up view of the site plan where you can note exactly how the layout for the 20 turbines appears. But it's when you go to 'Show Zone of Visual Influence' that the developer's case can be really shot to pieces. Using four different colours on this very small scale map they show the following - 1 to 5 turbines fully visible, 6 to 10 turbines fully visible, 11 to 15 turbines fully visible, 16 to 20 turbines fully visible (my emphasis throughout). I never knew how important a little word 'fully' was! A cursory glance at the map might make you wonder just what the fuss is about. I wouldn't argue that the number of locations at which you can see the full height from base to tip of blade might be limited but what about the top 70% or 50% of the structure? You have to be absolutely forensic when looking at any developer's evidence I find.

I don't live many miles from the granite mound of Kit Hill, a Country Park, from which a great swathe of East Cornwall and West Devon is visible. As existing windfarms are visible from there then I have to suspect that much of the Davidstow scheme could also be seen. It is said that the very top of the new turbines will be pretty well level with 'Brown Willy' and I'm sure that eminence can be seen from far more places than the four colours on the map.

If I lived near Davidstow I would go through this website with a magnifying glass and read every word. Alas time is too short for me but I've seen enough to convince me that this scheme should be turned down.

Davidstow residents unhappy about windfarm

Residents at Davidstow on the north flank of Bodmin Moor are very unhappy about the latest wind farm proposal for Cornwall. When it comes to windswept acres North Cornwall has more than most areas I guess so naturally wind turbine companies look on it very favourably. Now there is a plan for another windfarm this time at the woodland location near the old airfield.

I've blogged in the past about my reservations concerning onshore wind farms (See here). This suggestion for Davidstow is for the new generation of tall turbines (to put this in perspective 3 times the height of Exeter Cathedral!) whereas up until now the much smaller first generation turbines have been built in Cornwall. The company behind this latest scheme have cheekily called their proposal "Davidstow Community Windfarm" I believe thus suggesting that the local residents are enthusiasts for it! And because that part of Bodmin Moor is a mix of disused airfield and forestry they consider it to be a brownfield site! Now in all honesty this isn't the most stunningly beautiful part of the county but its proximity to Brown Willy, Cornwall's highest peak, and that it's not that far from the wild North Cornwall coast means that the wind farm will be dominating the views from some of the most special parts of Cornwall.

Another factor regarding the proposed site is that it is a very significant winter roost for starlings - I must go and witness this myself one of these days. Local authorities are in a bind in Devon and Cornwall: I could advance arguments against the location of any new proposals in the two counties but it's obvious that if a developer goes to appeal some will get through as happened at Fullabrook Down near Ilfracombe.

This government will push through more and more windfarms and they will increasingly be of the much larger turbines.