FELLS guidelines for opposing wind turbines

The advice on this page is based on guidelines initially issued by the Renewable Energy Foundation.

= Introduction =

Britain is currently experiencing a large number of applications for power stations (predominately wind-turbine based), which are inappropriately sited, environmentally damaging, ineffective in addressing concerns about the emission of greenhouse gases, and unsustainable.

At REF we believe that we must bring a decisive end to the present unbalanced renewable energy policy before irreparable damage is done to the ecological heritage of the United Kingdom, and the overall green initiative seriously harmed by unscrupulous exploitation.

These notes are designed to help individuals who have just discovered the existence of a proposal or a planning application for an inappropriately sited wind-farm in their area. They are very basic, and aim to meet the needs of emerging action groups who require a checklist of things to do while they get to grips with the details of the power industry, the planning system, and the particular application with which they are faced. If you follow the bootstrapping guidance offered here you will quickly outgrow these pages.

The notes have several sections. The first, “Discovering the Proposal or Application” gives a short description of the planning procedures, and the stages at which local residents might first become aware of the development. The second, “Initial Steps”, provides you with a checklist of things you need to do as soon as you learn of a windfarm application in your area. The third, “Follow-on Tasks”, is a list of things to do once the initial panic has passed. Finally, we list some things you should not do.

= Discovering the Proposal or Application =

The stage at which an application for a wind-farm is discovered by affected residents varies greatly. Sometimes, the Local Authority will involve the public from an early stage, while in other cases details may only be released very shortly before a planning application is due to be submitted.

Consequently, one of the first things you need to do is to determine which stage of the process the proposal/application in your area has actually reached. You may have heard a rumour of information that is not yet in the public domain, or it may be that you and other residents are only just catching up on the news.

To do this you should contact your Parish Council or Meeting, your local Councillor, and also your Local Planning Authority. Remember that it is possible that only the Local Planning Authority will know about the proposal, so don’t be reassured by the fact that councillors say they know nothing.

Equally, do not be reassured by any remarks, usually from the Planning Office, to the effect that there is at present no planning application and that the public need not concern itself with the matter. The procedure for such matters can be long, and the public has a moral though not always a legal right to be involved as early as possible so that its interests are represented at every stage of the business.

Substantial developments such as a wind turbine power station will generally be considered to require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which must be submitted together with the planning application. However, an EIA is not mandatory in all cases. Guidance in DETR Circular 02/99, Environmental Impact Assessment, states: "Wind farms A15. The likelihood of significant effects will generally depend upon the scale of the development, and its visual impact, as well as potential noise impacts. EIA is more likely to be required for commercial developments of five or more turbines, or more than 5 MW of new generating capacity." However, this guidance is dated, and given the scale of a single modern 2MW turbine (in excess of 100m of overall height) it is reasonable to say that an EIA is required in all cases, and this point should be made if required and appropriate. It is not unknown for developers to propose surprisingly small turbines (1.3 MW) even though they are proposing very tall towers, a course of action which may be intended to evade the requirement for an EIA. This matter needs careful monitoring.

In preparation for the EIA the developer will usually contact the Local Authority and submit a Scoping Consultation Document. This document describes the proposal in detail, sketches the terms for an Environmental Impact Assessment, and invites comment from Statutory Consultees, including the Council (other consultees include the Ministry of Defence, the Environment Agency, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). The intention of this phase is to set down the terms for the EIA, which will in fact be conducted by the consultants appointed and paid for by the developers themselves. Other interested parties, such as local residents, can also submit comments on the Scoping document.

When the period set for consultation has expired, the Council will review the comments of the respondents and issue a statement to the developers and their consultants.

Although Scoping is not, strictly speaking, a time at which you are asked to comment on the suitability of the proposal, there is in fact no harm at all in taking this opportunity to put your views to the council and its officers. Bear in mind, though, that there is no reason to do the developer’s work for them; your comments on the Scoping document should highlight areas of concern, and then leave it to the developers themselves to decide how best to research the matter in the Environmental Impact Assessment. If they produce an improper or inadequate EIA this is their problem, not yours, and exposes them to criticism when the application is eventually submitted.

You should be aware that any application for a wind-speed testing mast (anemometer) is a very clear gesture of intent by developers. Even if no Scoping document has been submitted, an application for an anemometer suggests that this will shortly follow and is probably in preparation. Do not be misled by the fact that the application for the anemometer is for a temporary structure to be maintained for two years. The developers are very unlikely to wait for any length of time before submitting a Scoping document and moving forward towards planning. You might think that testing the wind resource in a particular location is essential, but the truth is that the indirect subsidy available through the Renewables Obligation is so generous that even locations with low wind-speeds are richly profitable. Not all developers will bother with an anemometer.

If you have discovered the proposal/application late in the day it is vital that you study all the public documents produced up to that date. There may well be important information there which will assist your campaign at a later stage.

= Initial Steps =

Contact Local Planning Authority, local Councillors, and Parish Council or Meeting
Determine the stage at which the proposal/application now stands


 * Anemometer Planning Application
 * Scoping Consultation Document
 * Environmental Impact Assessment
 * Planning Application

If the business is still at the “proposal” stage determine whether there is a Scoping Consultation Document, and if so whether it is in the public domain. If not, insist on it being released to the general public. The Scoping document will contain useful maps showing the location of the proposed turbines, a preliminary estimate of the noise contours, and also a map showing the Zone of Visual Influence (the area over which they will be visible). All of these are extremely informative and can be very useful in raising public awareness of the negative aspects of the development. It is best if you can persuade the Planning Office to release an electronic copy of the document (Adobe PDF) which can be printed out at high resolution for your own documents, but sometimes only black and white copies are released.

Visit Planning Dept. of Local Authority and request to see Planning Application file

 * Identify the developers.
 * Identify the responsible Local Authority (this is usually a District council), and contact the planning office
 * Identify the owner/s of the land.
 * Identify site on an OS map.
 * Identify number of wind turbines.
 * Identify manufacturer of turbines.
 * Identify power generating capacity of each individual turbine (this will be given in MW (MegaWatts), and indicates the maximum output at any given moment, and is not to be confused with MWh, (MegaWatt-hours), which is a measure of energy output over a given period of time)
 * Identify turbine height (to hub, and to blade tip), and also radius and diameter of the circle described by the blades, and calculate swept area of blades.
 * Identify all homes/residential properties within 3-4km of wind turbines

By referring to the number and capacity of the turbines you can see whether the local Authority will determine the application. The DTI will normally determine applications for power stations of over 50MW in total. Confirm this fact by contacting the Planning Office of your local authority.

If the application will be determined by the Local Authority, find out the date the Application goes before Committee. If the DTI will determine the application find out the closing date for letters of objection, and ask the LA if they intend to object.

Contact the relevant office of the Land Registry (http://www.landreg.gov.uk/), and obtain copies of all relevant documents, such as Option Contracts and Leases, between the landowner and the developer. These can be extremely informative, and will give you a clear idea of how much flexibility the landowner still has. You may wish to take legal advice on the Option and Lease, particularly with regard to the lease. REF has seen examples which were extremely restrictive and one-sided. It may be necessary to bring this matter to the attention of the landowner. A key point to establish is whether the Lease has been executed or is still only a draft.

Contact Other Groups Nearby
If you know of other groups nearby who are already facing a wind power application, get in touch with them as soon as you have details of your own application. Their advice will supplement this guide, and get you up and running rapidly.

If you don’t know of any other groups, contact the Renewable Energy Foundation, or the campaigning organisation Country Guardian, who will be able to identify the nearest local groups.

Produce information sheets
These should be one side of A4 text only.

One sheet setting out the basic facts of your local application. On the reverse side of the sheet you could print a black and white version of the map from the Scoping Consultation Document. This sheet should be lean and factual. At the end of this document we provide a model, for guidance only.

Identify people willing to help

 * Note their skills &amp; weaknesses.
 * Find out the extent (time and money) they are prepared to commit.
 * Choose a team, (recognise willingness for a long haul) and form an Action Group.
 * Recognise special abilities (Chairmanship, public speaking, knowledge of council procedures and planning, computing and Internet skills, technical know-how).
 * Identify also a team of willing helpers. People willing to canvass on doorsteps, deliver leaflets, collate local information, put up posters.
 * Identify potential capital that realistically could be raised as this will identify the type of campaign.

Set up first Action Group Meeting
Elect a Chairman, a Treasurer, and a Secretary.

Select one person, usually the Chairman, to provide the organisation with an address, email address and telephone number.

Select a person to handle media contacts. This can be the chairman, though division of labour may help.

Identify expertise, such as legal, financial, planning.

Identify tasks and agree who will do what.

Agree plan to raise money. Remember that 200 supporters for a local problem is not unusual. If you ask for £10 each that gives a realistic fighting fund of £2,000 for starters.

Collate list of District Councillors and members of Planning Committee plus contact addresses.

Identify and contact the local MP.

Monitoring the Situation
Those in the immediate area should keep a careful log of all unusual activity or conditions. For example, if the developers are conducting tests of background noise note any unusual farm activity which may give the impression that the area is noisier than it is in fact. Note any unusual weather conditions which might distort the sound measurements.

Ensure that one of your group is entrusted with the task of reading the Council public file on the development on a regular basis, preferably at least once a week. Items have been known to go missing; it may be prudent for your group to keep a careful log of all documents seen.

Informing the Area

 * Contact Local Newspapers, local radio stations and regional TV by providing interviews and information sheets. Try to develop a personal relationship with key journalists.
 * Ask Parish Council(s) to call a meeting of Parishioners to inform people and seek views. Seek PC Resolution to oppose application. Contact neighbouring PCs who may be affected by the scheme. Provide them all with contact details of Action Group. If they are reluctant to call a meeting then get 2 councillors or 6 electors to request one under the Local Govt. Act (1972) Schedule 12, Section 15D. Use the following form of words ‘…We the undersigned formally request that a Parish Meeting be convened to discuss …….[ENTER SUBJECT]. Submit to Parish Clerk.
 * Contact all home owners within 3-4kms of the site and arrange public meeting.

A website is a good idea, but is not essential. Some groups are very effective without them. However, if you judge that a site is likely to be beneficial to your cause, REF can advise you further on the steps to take in order to set it up. Purchasing a domain name and finding a company to host the site for you need not be costly, but professional design can be expensive, so it is best if this last matter is handled within your group. Bear in mind that if you have a web-site it must be good; weak sites will make your group look weak.

Contact the landowner. As the group grows you will probably find that some members know the landowner concerned. It is extremely important to attempt to develop any such links and take the opportunity to communicate to the landowner the fact of local opposition and its reasoned nature. There is a always a chance that he or she may decide that it was unwise to enter into an agreement with the developer and withdraw. Some groups have asked members to write personally to the landowner while others have judged this to be counter-productive. Your group must take the advice of those who know the landowner best. It is essential that, no matter how strained relations threaten to become, your group and its members are the spirit of civility. As noted above, copies of the Option and Lease between the landowner and the developer will tell you how much flexibility the landowner still has. If the contract seems very one-sided and restrictive, it is worth pointing this out to the landowner, and if the Lease has not yet been executed the landowner may well have time to renegotiate their position. REF can provide further guidance on this matter.

Posters
Not all groups use posters, but for some they are a large part of the campaign. It is important that the poster is very striking visually, and has a positive verbal message. All posters should be professionally printed on durable rigid poster board such as that used by estate agents, and only displayed on private property in places which do not pose a traffic hazard. Posters will almost certainly be torn down; report these events to the police, and calmly replace the missing posters, preferably in higher locations. Use cable ties and batons, not nails, if you need to attach posters to live trees and utility posts.

Professional Assistance
Depending on your group’s finances and internal resources you may wish to consider hiring professional assistance in preparing submissions in relation to Scoping, or in opposing the Planning Application. Landscape consultants, acoustic consultants, and planning lawyers are amongst those you may wish to consider. REF can assist you in evaluating your requirements.

At Public Inquiry (which will occur if the application for planning permission is rejected by the Local Authority, but the developer decides to appeal) you will require professional assistance. This document does not attempt to deal with Public Inquiries, but we note here for your information that REF is able to advise should this become necessary.

= Follow-on Tasks =

Local Plans

 * Ask for copies of the most recent Local (District Plan), the County Structure Plan and notes on the Regional Planning Guidance – consult especially sections on renewable energy, landscape, conservation, tourism, environment and local economy.

Landscape issues

 * Determine if the site is in, or close to, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), a landscape of Special County Importance, or a Geopark (e.g. North Pennines). Check for Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLVs) that usually surround AONBs.
 * Accurate Visual Representations (AVRs). The developer will construct photomontage images claiming to show how the development will appear. These will probably though not certainly, be formally correct yet misleading both in character and in viewpoint. It will almost certainly be necessary for your group to produce AVRs of its own both for publicity purposes and for use in objecting to the Planning Application. This is a matter for professionals, and can be costly. REF can advise you on how to proceed. Remember that before a Planning Application is submitted the locations of the turbines are not fixed, and that any AVRs constructed on the basis of the grid references in the Scoping Document may have to be re-made.
 * Check for any protected habitats such as blanket bog on upland sites, or sensitive areas such as trout or salmon spawning streams.
 * Check for impact on water courses used for human consumption (silting, pollution). These should be detailed in the Application but check with District and County Plans.

Wildlife

 * Does that application site include or affect Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Wildlife Conservation Areas, Nature Reserves, Wildlife Sites, or any other similiar classification? These can be checked with local Natural History Societies, County Wildlife Trust, English Nature, or the Environment Agency. You should also check to see if the location is listed under the National Biodiversity Action Plan.
 * Check to see if there any uncommon, rare, or protected species at or near the site (for example, water voles, crested newts, bats, badgers, orchids, Red Data Book species). Again, the County Wildlife Trust will be able to help. Seek out local specialists on owls, bats, raptors and other affected wildlife.
 * Is there an adequate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with the application? These are usually done by a sub-contractor so check them carefully as they are often ‘minimal’. If you are still at the proposal stage, or monitoring the conduct of the EIA remember that it is not your job to do the developer’s work for them. Reserve your local expert knowledge to use against the Environmental Statement submitted with the planning application.
 * Maintain close links with the wildlife organisations, and if there are problems in any of the above categories ensure that the relevant organisation objects to the application.
 * A new EC Directive, the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive has now (July 2004) become law. Ask whether such an assessment has been carried out for energy generating schemes in your area/County.

Noise
This is a highly contentious area. There are some associations between noise and health that are not yet recognized by the developers or the government, for example ill-health caused by low frequency sound. REF is aware of forthcoming research by scientists who have measured low frequency sound from turbines, but the health effects are at present unknown. One point that you should note is that the estimates of likely sound propagation around very tall turbines (approximately 60m hub height and upwards) are probably in error due to the use of an inappropriate methodology, which was designed for predicting noise around much smaller turbines. One researcher has estimated that these estimates are in error by around 15dB. Bear this in mind when examining the developer’s sound maps. Identify homes within 2km, establish developers predicted noise levels (from the application), compare with existing background noise levels, and establish predicted increase. Developers will usually claim that the background noise will mask the noise of the turbines, but the literature suggests that this is not the case.

Light interception effects
There are many kinds of light effect, ranging from glint, or reflected light from the blades, to “shadow flicker”, which is a situation in which the turbine blades interrupt the sole or principal source of light for an area. In between, there are many other effects of light interception and moving shadow. Some wind farm developers list in their site criteria-documents a minimum distance for shadow flicker of 10X rotor diameter. If a domestic residence is affected by light interception the consequences can be very serious, and the problems are acknowledged by developers. It may be important to identify any residents with medical conditions (e.g. epilepsy) likely to be triggered by light interception effects, and alert the Environmental Health Officer to their existence. o Make contact with the Environmental Health Officer and ensure that he or she is fully informed with regard to all the latest research on health-related issues related to wind turbines. The Council and the EHO has a “duty of care” towards residents and generally this is taken very seriously.

Quality of Life and Property values
This area may seem common sense to you, but the wind industry repeatedly claims that there is no significant evidence of an effect on house values. The difficulty is that monetary value is only a rough quantification of the quality of life you might expect in a house, and the market value of houses fluctuates from moment to moment and buyer to buyer. As a result it is in fact not easy to show with straightforward, concrete, and objective data the intuitively obvious fact that a house value will fall if a very large moving structure is constructed in close proximity. However, there is some evidence: an award of 20% of the value of a house was made by a Cumbrian court on the grounds that the vendors had not informed the purchasers of the imminent construction of a wind farm. In any document that you produce you should exercise extreme caution in phrasing remarks relating to this issue. You should use words such as, ‘….property values have been estimated to fall by from 5 to 50% depending on the location and desirability of the property’. It would be sensible for local residents within 2km to approach a reputable local estate agent and obtain written valuations of their properties at the pre-turbine level. You may find that your local agents are willing to give a group rate discount for this service. It is also worth asking your local estate agent if they are willing to make a public statement on the possible devaluation in the area. If you can, make an estimate of the total capital write-down for the area up to 4km from the site, and point out that residents may be entitled to a Council Tax rebate in view of the loss of amenity.

Tourism &amp; heritage
Determine whether the application will affect B&amp;Bs, country hotels, Country Clubs, and caravan sites. If it will, the effect is very likely to be negative in all cases. Local councils will almost certainly have figures for the income generated for the area by tourism, and you should obtain these. Alternatively you could contact the County Tourist Board. Ask whether the tourist industry is based on short-term visitors or so-called “value” tourists who stay for longer periods and spend accordingly. If the turbines will visually dominate local landmarks, for example churches, castles, and open gardens, this is a serious consideration. Your group should identify all tourist locations within 5km of the site, establish by interviewing relevant staff and owners the likely local impact on tourism and local income. The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) argues that the presence of turbines actually augments local tourist attractions, but this is intuitively implausible.

Leisure
Contact should be made with the Ramblers Association and the British Horse Society so that they are aware of the application and can investigate any impact it may have on footpaths and bridleways. Request the British Horse Society to send you their guidelines regarding turbines next to trails and pathways. Contact should be made with the local Council to establish whether any public footpaths and Green lanes cross the site. Prepare an Ordnance Survey overlay with all public access areas, commons, right-to-roam land, footpaths, bridleways, boating and fishing lakes, within 3km of the turbines. This will enable you to establish impact of the scheme on the Public zone of visual influence.

Statutory consultees
For wind farms less than 50MW installed capacity the determining authority will be your local District Council. Your first task is to persuade them to reject the application as this immediately triggers the requirement for a Public Enquiry.

The campaign should make contact with every member of the Council by writing directly to them and sending authoritative documents. Take especial care that your statements can be rigorously backed up.


 * For large applications (greater than 50MW) the application will be sent to the DTI for determination. In this case the statutory consultees will be the District Council, and the County Council and National Park Authorities may be also included. Check with the DTI by contacting Gary Mohammed, Manager, Power Station &amp; Pipe-line Consents, on 0207-215-2880.
 * In either case, local council or DTI determined application, ensure that as many people as possible write individual letters of objection. These are much more valuable than standard letters with different signatures that are just lumped together. Many people will need help and encouragement with letter writing so identify helper(s) willing to spend time on this subject. Remember that the developers will organise letters of support. Some Local Authorities have been known to lose letters so, if you have the resources, it may be a good idea for your group to collect them and record letters from members before delivering them by hand.
 * About a week before the application goes to the planning committee the Officers Report will be available to the public. Identify where the letters of support for the proposal come from; letters from distant UK locations have questionable credibility and relevance.

Some other things to check

 * Carry out a Companies House search on the Company to determine who owns it and the extent of its capitalization. If you are uncertain or unwilling to do this please contact REF; we may already have the information or be willing to obtain it on your behalf.
 * Examine all access routes likely to be used for traffic during construction. The vehicles which transport turbine components are very large indeed, and alterations to the road system may be necessary to access the site. You should check with County Highways Department to see if there are any highways constraints that the developers may have ignored. Also examine the route to see there are major trees (check for Tree Preservation Orders), hedgerows, or dry-stone walls which might be adversely affected. The prospect of damage caused during construction can be enough to prevent a development.
 * Verify wind speed data against developers claims from Met Office Wind Rose data.
 * Check to see if the wind farm will interfere with electromagnetic waves used for communications, for example TV signals, mobile phones, police and air ambulance. Developers should consult these parties, but 1. they may neglect to do so, and 2. while a degradation to the service may be acceptable from the point of view of the provider, it may not be acceptable to your population as the beneficiary.
 * Check to see if there are any airports, defence establishments, radar sites within 40 miles of the site. The Ministry of Defence objects to a large number of applications and are statutory consultees, but there is no harm in also contacting operational Commanders at airbases who are often more protective than the head office. Further information on this matter is available from REF. You should also contact National Air Traffic Services, and the Civil Aviation Authority.
 * Connection of the wind turbines to the national grid is an issue often treated very scantily in developer statements. In preparation for criticising their statement you should find the position of the nearest National Grid lines. Depending on the size of the power station a 33kv link may be satisfactory and may already exist. However, the connection may not be straightforward, and could involve the construction of new cable systems involving underground cables, pylons, or other smaller structures. The routing of these should be established and examined for environmental impact, particularly if the route crosses sensitive landscape areas.
 * It may be appropriate for your group to write on behalf of residents putting the landowner and the developer “on notice” with regard to possible legal action relating to nuisance and Human Rights. This will require the employment of a solicitor. Further advice on this matter is available from REF.
 * Representations should be made to the council to insist that a financial bond (from the developer) is lodged to ensure that the cost of removal of the turbines at the end of their life time is met. This should be a condition of approval. It is important to ensure that the wording of the condition explicitly requires complete site restoration, including the removal of concrete plinths.
 * As time permits your group will wish to develop a library of key documents, for example The Energy White Paper (2003), Planning Guidance documents, various papers on aspects of electricity generation, global warming and greenhouse gasses, CO2 emissions, and other related issues. REF is already constructing a documentary library of papers on many of these issues, and can provide guidance with regard to the publications of other bodies.

Press and Publicity

 * Make sure that not just local residents but local media also receive copies of any handouts and promotional material. Contact local radio stations to see if they are willing to interview either your media-relations coordinator or the chairman of the campaign to debate the proposals issues.
 * Local papers should not just be thought of as a key tool at the start of a campaign. It is important to keep local residents and businesses up to date with campaign developments and the easiest way to do this is to continually place topical and relevant stories into the local media. Are there any other successful forms of renewable technology being used in the local area? Is there potential for producing bio-diesal or hydro-power? Try to advocate alternatives to the proposed development.
 * To maintain momentum contact local celebrities or well-known figures. Their vocal support to your campaign can create a newsworthy story and, if they will agree to visit a proposed development site, can help show visually the necessity for a campaign.
 * Events can also gain good press coverage. These can vary from a walk across the proposed site to a photographic exhibition of before and after photo-montages (although these have to be accurate and therefore can be expensive to produce).

However, a note of caution, do remember that though this is an emotive issue, the focus of press contact should not be a personal attack on the landowner or developer and all statements and assumptions given to the press need to be backed up with clearly sourced evidence.

= Some things NOT to do =

Do not antagonise your local Planning Officer.
Council Officers are officially neutral and must be seen to be so. Do not assume that simply because they are cool towards you that they are insensitive to the gravity of the issue as it affects local residents. Officers have to follow District Plans and Government/Regional Guidelines, whatever their private views. However, do not assume that the Planning Officer has time to gather all the relevant information; do keep them informed.

Take great care that your leaflets do not make claims that you cannot support with authoritative evidence
Developers have used the Advertising Standards Authority as a weapon against local opposition. REF can offer to assist its members with checking such details.

Do not try and write documents from scratch
Many groups throughout the UK and Europe have produced documents on most aspects of energy, wind power, other renewables etc. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. REF can advise members about such documents.

= Specimen Hand-out Text (fill in as appropriate) =

To All Households of VILLAGE NAME

Proposed Wind-farm at LOCATION NAME

You may already be aware that DEVELOPER NAME Ltd is proposing to erect a wind-farm on land at LOCATION NAME. The proposal is for X turbines of XMW, totalling XMW. The locations of the proposed turbines can be seen on the map on the reverse of this sheet.

Each turbine will be X metres (xft) to the nacelle or hub, and the blades are Xm (xft) long. The overall height to the tip of the blade is Xm (xft). The swept area of the blades is Xm2 (xft2) and the total swept area for the station is Xm2 (xft2). These are very large structures indeed, and the visual intrusion will be very significant over a very wide area.

The nearest domestic dwellings are Xm (xft) from the turbines.

The developers claim that it will generate XMWh per year. This claim implies a capacity factor of 0.n, which is a measure of the station’s “effectiveness”. (For comparison, a gas turbine has a capacity factor of approximately 0.9.) This does not mean that the blades will only be turning 0.n of the time; they may turn 80–90% of the time, but it does mean that they will not always be turning fast enough to generate its maximum quantity of power or even a large fraction of that quantity.

At present the local authority, COUNCIL NAME, is consulting organisations and other bodies before instructing the developer with regard to the Environmental Impact Assessment.

A planning application is likely to be submitted in MONTH.

There are many known problems with very large wind turbines of this type, including light interruption effects, noise, and negative ecological impact. It is vital that we work hard to learn all we can about this proposal and ensure that the development is not rushed through over our heads.

This leaflet has been prepared by an interim steering committee of villagers examining the proposal. For further information please contact: (0000) 000 0000.