Dorset Against Rural Turbines
Assessing the facts and acting before it's too late.

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environmentalists say

Background Information:

added 07 ⁄ 05 ⁄ 08

Infinergy plan to install 4 (formerly 6) giant industrial wind turbines at East Stoke near Wareham.

Each turbine will be 125m (410ft) high, much higher than Salisbury Cathedral, and dwarfing the natural features of our beautiful landscape.

The blades will stand higher than the surrounding hills - from Wareham Common they will dominate the landscape. The base of the turbines will be 4 m across and the additional anemometer mast will have the same width at its base tapering to 1.7 metres at the top.

Wind turbines are not quiet as these developers often claim. Residents living up to a mile away can be affected by noise and vibration, especially at night causing sleep deprivation.

The nearest houses will be less than 700m away. In France, the Academic Nationale de Medicin has recommended that large turbines should be at least 1.5km (almost 1 mile) from houses for reasons of noise and nuisance.

This development will do little for local employment. The turbines will be imported and their operation is by remote control.

Onshore wind turbines on average only generate 27% of their maximum output and always need conventional power stations to cover for periods when the wind isn't blowing strongly enough.

As the turbines are so ineffective, around 60% of the income of a wind farm is from indirect subsidy taken from our electricity bills. The East Stoke turbines would receive a subsidy of about £1.5 million annually.

Offshore wind turbines are much more effective, as the wind is stronger and more consistent, but not as profitable for the developer.

CO2 saving from wind power is very expensive compared to the alternatives - up to £480 per tonne of carbon compared to EU Emissions Trading values of £12-70 per tonne.