Author: simon
Pro-Wind Turbine Island Group Has Over 3,750 Members
Thursday, 17th December, 2009 at 2:08 pm, Isle of Wight
Environment, Green Issues, Island-wide, News
Since the Isle of Wight council refused planning permission for wind turbines at Cheverton Down, there has been a significant rise in membership of a group of Facebook called – Campaign for wind turbines on the Isle of Wight.
As we write this piece, membership stands at over 3,750 – an interesting figure as the anti-turbine group ThWART quoted their membership at around 2,500 (from memory).
There’s an ability for people to leave messages too and it’s not surprising given the nature of the group, that more of them are supportive of Wind turbines on the Island – others are not.
Here’s a few selections of the pro-wind ones comment.
Martin Fuller – Why don’t we actually have a vote on whether the Island wants wind turbines or not? As someone has already pointed out on here, the majority of people realise that wind turbines are essential if we truely are going to become a more sustainable ‘Eco Island’. Yes we realise that they do not produce electricity 100% of time time – but surely anything is better than nothing! I just cannot understand some of the backwards people on the Isle of Wight!!
Jeremy Moulds – if my garden was big enough i would have 1 in there i really dont see what peoples problems are. Everyone keeps harpin on about finding new sources of energy but then dont want them near their houses
George Booth – does everybody remeber how our bread was once made? something our country was once famous for, just imagine how the story would be today if windmills were rejected because they were placed on hills in area’s of natural beaty. The irony being, they themselves are now objects of beauty, now is the time to write histroy, stop being so closed minded, it’s not you that will suffer the effects as you won’t be around to see it, your ruining it for your family’s to come!!!
Robert Holdcroft – get the wind mills up the only people who dont like the idea are rich old dudes who think the isle of wight is there island
Brendan O’Connell – if the council can make us change our school system becuase they want it, why cant they do the same with the turbines???? or do they not really want them?????
Tasha Colegate – i’d have 1 in my back garden if it helped save on climate change!!
Marilyn Warman – these turbines are a MUST for the island to be taken into the 21st century. Lets stop the pussy footing around and get some turbines up and running!!!!
Some comments against
As mentioned, not all comments on there are supportive of wind turbines on the Island, there are some descenting comments too.
David Bird – DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE.. GLOBAL WARMING RE-BRANDED ” CLIMATE CHANGE”
MORE WAYS TO TAX TAX TAX & MORE TAX
In spite of Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth,” there’s no scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. His claim that Greenland’s ice will melt, causing oceans to rise twenty feet, is science fiction, not reality. Unadulterated scientific facts show us that, since 2005, Greenland’s ice mass has been growing, not shrinking! So has its population of polar bears.
Martin Linnenbruger -i can,t believe you all think a few f***ing windmills is gonna save the world
Emma Russell – I do NOT agree with this group atall, For many reasons. And when they are preety much on your back or front garden they dont look good atall and seeing as they would be so close they dont make any difference what so ever in electric bills etc.. An anyway theyve been declined so ……
Pop over to the page and have a look for yourself.
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Well done them, but to be fsir, it’s a lot easier to click a mouse to say yes to a simple question than really ‘join’ a group in the conventional way. If the question was ‘Do you support subsidised wind turbines in AONB’s?’ I’d guess their wouldn’t be so many eager cliickers.
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Do the Council know suitable sites?
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Do the Council want them?
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Council is it COPOUT?
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I just knew you’d say that it’s easier to click than join ThWART.
Do you know how people ‘joined’ ThWART? What did they do to ‘join’?
Did they just say OK? That’s even easier than clicking isn’t it?
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Question: ‘Do you support subsidised wind turbines in AONB’s?’
answer: Yes!
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Shobba, wind turbines are profitable, subsidies or not. The subsidies are meerly a way for the government to show that they are being pro-active in support renewable technology. In any case, I believe that the subsidies are actually in the form of a ‘guaranteed minimum price’ paid by the grid for energy from green sources. We have a chance to secure the future of our energy security through elegant engineering solutions, i.e. wind turbines, solar power and tidal turbines. However, in typical human fashion we seem to be heading for the illogical choice of nuclear power. Why would any logical race ever create their electricity through a process that creates material that is very hazardous to human health (radioactive material) when there is a clean, unharmful, elegant solution in our palms. Microgeneration is an interesting topic. However, the payback time (both financial and carbon) of such systems is far longer than larger developments. Also, we must not forget that a turbine produced with 100% green electricity and transported on electric vehicles would have a carbon payback time of 0 years.
On the subject of efficiency, you have no facts to back up your allegations. Try googling ‘efficiency of coal/gas/oil fired power stations. Trust me, you may be surprised. However, I fear you may actually be referring to the intermittency of wind turbines. This is where diversity of supply is important. Essentially, the more wind turbines you have, the more reliable the supply is. This, along with other forms of green electricity generation, i.e Tidal and Solar power could easily cater for the nations demand. Let us not forget that Tidal power does not create electricity 24/7, periods of slack tides and also the high and low points of each tide are non generating periods. Clearly solar will only produce electricity for around half of the day. However, when you marry all of these systems together, all placed all over the country, then you create a reliable supply due to the diversity of supply.
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I support wind turbines. On narrowboats, on sheds, perhaps on motorway service stations and industrial estates. I could happily live with one in my back garden if they actually worked and saved me money. It seems on this basis I could join both the facebook group and Thwart?
I still don’t want them in AONB’s of course. Is this too hard for some posters to understand?
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but that is only a point of view…I love Modernist design and architecture, but it is not everybodies taste, I like 60’s R&B and Italian fashion, but that is just me.
Your opinion of an area of natural beauty and whether a fantastic structure would enhance or detract from it is purely your own opinion.
I get the fact that you are not anti turbine (but you do lack a few (loads!!!) of facts about them ( and about more conventional means of electricity production).
Opinions will not change the enviroment..action will. If we do not act and it all goes pear shaped..it’s your fault (generalisation). If we act and nothing goes wrong…great, the world united for once….if it all goes t~ts up and we have done enough to manage things then all this has been worthwhile
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3751 now. Good post No 5.
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This is good…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KurAbrMHu2k
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I didn’t decide the area selected by Cornwall Light & Power should be an AONB. It was decided by experts. It doesn’t really matter if you agree or disagree, they made it so, it IS now an AONB. That has implications for all planning applications.
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nick herbert – `state visit` to portsmouth : uttered support for wind energy.
…Mr Herbert said if the Conservatives got into power next year they would support seaside communities at risk of flooding, give councils a new power to levy business rate discounts and help seaside heritage attractions to secure lottery funding.
He added that they would establish a network of large- scale ‘marine energy parks’ and lay DC cables to support the development of offshore wind farms.
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Critics-say-vision-for-future.5927285.jp
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If the Conservatives do any of those things effectively I’ll be amazed.
They can’t even seem to do the one thing they are historically good at – selling off council property – particularly well at the moment. A result of a troubled economy? A case of better journalistic coverage/heightened scrutiny making it riskier to flog to friends and family?
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That’s great. It means the Tories may get my vote..
As long as they don’t build them in AONB’s and don’t pay ridiculously generous subsidies to the owners.
Wind power, yes please!
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So easy to say when trying to win votes remember middle schools Isle Of Wight
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