Local Wind Turbines - Not In My Back Yard

Tuesday night I had to go down the local pub. I say had to; (its a difficult life here) as I had to collect my eggs from a local man who keeps chickens and this ensures I get fresh free range eggs. As I was still excited by my observation of the Red Kites courting flight, I was able to share my enthusiasm for this.

While I realise that I do risk being seen as the Pub Bore, I try to be careful that I don't alienate people. Recently a good friend asked if I see peoples eyes glaze over at the mention of Climate Change, well as my eyes glaze over if I have to mention it... I just cant understand why people don't get it. So while I told a couple of people, I was surprised that many people then started to come over and ask about the Kites. Locally, people are really proud of the Red Kites and their success.

However, something happened that surprised me, one of my local readers, told me he could fix my other video camera. He described exactly how the fault manifests its self, so that gives me confidence. When I took the camera to get repaired previously I had been told it would cost a small fortune. However, it could be that it will be relatively cheep to fix. So I am considering the offer.

One of the other things that occurred was that I was furnished with some useful information about some local wildlife. While I can find the local wildlife myself, good local knowledge can save a lot of wasted effort.

I also got the chance to have a look at the local paper, there was a report about the possibility of four wind turbines being constructed locally. However much of the report was about opposition to the proposal. What appalled me was that all of the reasons that the opposition were putting forward were nonsense. It was a real NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude.

In the past this area was built on Iron and Steel, Consett was a steel town and my village of Chopwell was created by the Consett Iron company purely to mine coal to make coke for smelting Iron and Steel. When the blast furnaces were closed in the 1980s it caused a lot of financial deprivation. However it really boosted the environment. The River Derwent is only as clean as it is because of the fact that these industries are now gone.

So for the NIMBYs to claim that four turbines is a return to industrialisation is nonsense. While some impact will occur, it will not be polluting. The other main objection was that it will effect the Red Kites who are nesting. While the Red Kites do venture to that area occasionally, none of the Red Kites are nesting anywhere near the site of the proposed turbines. They are at least five miles away.

While I feel that turbines need to be sited sensitively so that they don't cause environmental damage, we need the power they generate. I doubt that any of these NIMBYs will be willing to give up their cars or are prepared to suffer power cuts.

While I know that four turbines will not in themselves solve climate change, it is the accumulative effect of many small local projects that will have the greatest impact.