Group campaigns against wind farm plans

A GROUP campaigning against a wind farm in West Ashton is concerned that many residents in the area – including in Westbury, Bratton, Edington, and Heywood – are unaware of the plans for Grange Farm Wind Farm.
Reg Windpower is proposing to install three wind turbines of up to 130m in height on Grange Farm, near West Ashton. So far, they have gained permission to erect a 16m anemometry mast to measure wind conditions. But the ‘Stop Grange Farm Wind Farm’ campaign has raised concerns about the plans, saying that if Wiltshire’s first wind turbines are allowed to go ahead, more will follow. Campaigner Judy Glasson, of Bratton said, “They are proposing to put three wind turbines in. They are going to be 130 metres high which makes the Westbury chimney look positively small. They’ll be the first in Wiltshire and there’ll be no stopping them after that. “This is an area of outstanding beauty and near historical sites, it’s not the place to have them. “We’ve got this group together and you’ll find a lot on our website. We’re trying to get the news to the villages and we’re proposing a big public meeting in June. “We had Andrew Murrison in the village in March and everyone who came to that meeting was opposed. But it also seems that people don’t know what’s happening so we’re trying to raise awareness.” The campaigners say they are opposing the turbines because the installations rely on generous government subsidies from the taxpayer, yet do not make a substantial contribution to power requirements. They also say the turbines are a disfigurement of the countryside, along with concerns about the visual impact, danger to wildlife, and noise pollution. The campaign says, “The Stop Grange Farm Wind Farm (SGFWF) campaign is pro-sustainable energy, and believes that the UK has sufficient other on-shore and off-shore site options at which to site new wind energy developments. “The three turbines together will comprise an industrial development on agricultural, greenfield land, and a power plant of considerable size – although wind power output and its contribution to the UK’s sustainable energy production will always be variable, and of debatable benefit. “This industrialisation of our countryside will affect not only the residents and businesses of the immediate area, but those all along this western end of the Avon Valley and White Horse Vale. “These turbines will despoil, and become an overbearing feature of, our local Wiltshire landscape, being directly in the line of sight from the Westbury White Horse and the Bratton Iron Age Fort, in the forefront of any view from the town of Westbury, visible from a significant distance towards Bristol to the west, Devizes and Alton Barnes to Pewsey to the east and Bath to the north.” Public exhibitions to explain Reg Windpower’s proposals were held at the end of last year, while the plans can be found online at www.grangefarmwindfarm.co.uk The SGRWF campaign can be found online at www. stopgrangefarmwind farm.com