Electricity Discount 16/08/12

The following letter was sent to the Carmarthen Journal:

Dear Editor,
It is interesting to note that, at a very late stage of the planning process, the wind farm developer RES is now offering local people a discount on their electricity bills if the Bryn Lllywelyn application receives planning permission. Why would they do this and why now? It could be an act of desperation, bearing in mind that cost benefit analysis of their proposals show that virtually all the benefits of turning our valuable unique mountain complex into an industrial zone, accrue outside Wales and a large portion of the costs would be felt here in Carmarthenshire. Even the government inspector at the public inquiry recently into the Brechfa West proposed wind farm accepted this situation in a meeting on July 11th.
To be charitable to RES, it may be they feel morally responsible that local residents will suffer in so many ways from the impact that these giant industrial structures will have on their lives. So it is felt that monetary compensation will soften the blow so to speak. However, no amount of money, I suggest, can offset, among other things, damage to people's health.The evidence that this would happen is borne out by an ever increasing, overwhelming amount of evidence from all over the world, not to mention what has already happened in Gwddgrug. The negative sound impact of these giant turbines cannot be ignored.
Also it has recently been revealed that the existence of nearby wind farms does have an impact on property values. The body that assesses these values, known as VOA, has created a number of precedents in c ases of dwellings near wind farms having their council tax bands reduced. There is not space here to mention in detail all the other negative impacts on our community such as reduced earnings from tourism, traffic chaos, loss of amenity, loss of habitat etc. etc. Money cannot buy what we have here i.e. a priceless asset in the form of a rare, tranquil, unspoiled, accessible mountain complex which has taken many thousand of years to form. I suggest that the people of Carmarthenshire have a public duty to the whole of this country to protect this asset against short term interests, even if it means defying the political needs of the government in Cardiff! I can't help wondering how much we would have to pay RES to go away!!

Yours sincerely,

Ted Razzell

Although the editors decided to publish my letter, they decided to remove any speculation in it so that while I had raised the question of RES motivation, no answers appeared. However, since that publication, it has been revealed that any one receiving as much as a penny from RES will be considered to have a financial interest in the developer's activities and consequently will not legally be able to complain at raised levels of turbine sound noise.  

01/08/12 Letter to Carmarthen Journal "Turbines v People"

                       Turbines  v  People

What matters more: green energy targets or residents' health?  Profits for developers or profits from tourism? Clear evidence has emerged from recent local inquiries that people living near the Alltwalis  wind farm have suffered from turbine noise to an unacceptable level. The government has laid down a system called ETSU which is supposed to prevent such events happening but it has clearly failed to do so. It is very worrying that ETSU is still being used in assessing another 60 giant turbines that could be built in the Mynydd Llanllwni / Llanfrihangel Rhos y Corn area, so even more people could be adversely affected.

It is astounding to discover that, in forecasting the sound level likely to be experienced at individual properties, so called experts are allowed to ignore low frequency sound emanating from turbines, since very low frequencies (also known as infrasound) can't be heard by human beings. However, this sound can be experienced by several other human senses. An increasing number of independent studies,  some commissioned by DEFRA, have shown that low frequency noise of all types can cause neurological problems, even when at the infrasound level. Also this type of noise can be experienced at surprising distances such as 5 or even 25 miles away. Despite all  this evidence, governments at all levels have recently refused to re-evaluate the ETSU  guidelines, so it seems the health of the public and its human rights are less important than green energy!

Developers also tell us that a large majority of the general public are in favour of onshore wind farms and would not be put off from visiting areas with turbines. What they do not mention is that the vast majority of survey respondents (mostly from South East England) have no knowledge of the problems associated with these giant industrial structures. It is difficult to accept that potential tourists would want to spend time in an area littered with these noisy, potentially dangerous, giant machines, as opposed to a tranquil unspoiled countryside. More tourism is obviously in the economic interest of Carmarthenshire and to allow developments which would offset such beneficial progress is the height of folly!

Ted Razzell