Ill Wind: A group of South Marston and Stratton residents concerned about the proposed wind turbines at Honda
ILL WIND will be flying a Blimp from 11am to 7pm from a field in South Marston on Monday 13th September.
A viewing area 600m from the Blimp will be erected on the South Marston Recreation ground.
ILL WIND has found that many people do not have a clear understanding of the overall impact, visual and otherwise, of the proposed turbines. As a group, we have sought to give the public information relating to the effects of wind turbines situated close to residential areas and have done this through public meetings, leaflet drops and our website (www.illwind.co.uk ).
We now aim to illustrate the visual impact by flying a blimp to the same height as the proposed turbines.
We hope that by demonstrating the scale of the turbines, this will prompt people to investigate for themselves fully the issues of noise, flicker and associated health problems. Only when they have considered both sides can an informed decision be made on whether to object to or agree to Honda’s application.
Where is the blimp being flown from?
- We had hoped that we could fly the blimp from the exact site of turbine No3 (the turbine nearest to Greenfields). However Honda would only allow us to fly it at the height of the central hub and not to the full height of the blades.
- We have very kindly been given permission to fly the blimp from a site as close as possible to the actual site at the back of Thornhill Road in South Marston. We are erecting a viewing point in the Recreation Ground, 600 metres from the Blimp. The turbines are planned to be 600 metres from the nearest homes and this viewing point will allow people to gauge for themselves the relative impact on their homes.
Why not fly it from the hub height?
- This would simply not be a fair way of demonstrating to the public the actual size of the turbines. If this application is approved, the public will see the full motion of the rotating blades which cover an area of 5,200sqm to a height of 120m – which is the height of the turbine as designated in the planning application.
- It is also worth remembering that we are only flying ONE blimp – there will be THREE turbines!
Some interesting facts about the proposed turbines:
- The Turbines are 37m higher than the David Murray John building.
- The area covered by the rotating blades is ¾ of the size of Wembley’s football pitch.
- The Honda Turbines will be 40m, or two cricket pitches, higher than the Watchfield turbines.
- In Scotland and some areas within England, wind turbines of this size must be positioned a minimum of 2km from residential property. The South Marston ones are 600m.
- A Private Members’ Bill has been proposed recommending a similar 2km exclusion zone for England.
- Wind Energy has been well established in Denmark for more than 20 years, the Danish Government has decided to ban any further land based wind turbines
Who is ILL WIND?
- We are not against renewable energy and are very keen proponents of wind, solar, wave and tidal power.
- We care very much about our environment.
- We are a group of ordinary people who live in South Marston and Stratton.
- We want to ensure that all local residents have sufficient information to ensure that they can make up their own minds about whether to support or object to the proposed wind turbines at Honda.
- We felt that the public consultation meetings held by Honda and Ecotricity were one sided and misleading. Very few people were aware the meetings were taking place and consequently were poorly attended. Honda and Ecotricity could have made significantly more effort to communicate with all residents who will be affected by their application.
Interviews will be possible either on the 13th from 11am to 7pm at the viewing site in South Marston or can be coordinated through Amanda Burchell on 01793 827009 or by email: Amanda@aquileia.co.uk
