Too insensitive planning of wind farms can cause serious damage!

At its recent bi-annual Council Meeting, Europe’s leading heritage conservation organisation criticised governments for causing serious damage to the environment by focusing too heavily on giant high wind turbines, both on and offshore. Europa Nostra, which brings together heritage and environmental organisations representing over five million members, said vast areas of beautiful landscape throughout Europe are being industrialised by the construction of ever larger wind-turbines, each of them in itself a small power-station. Acknowledging international concern about global warming as reflected in the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, Europa Nostra reaffirmed its support for renewable energy, including wind-power, but said wind turbines should be sited in appropriate places. Greater efforts should be made to promote all forms of renewable energy and policies must address both demand and supply, consider all forms of energy supply and focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, most notably of carbon dioxide. Many national policies do not address the demand side, save energy or promote energy efficiency. Europa Nostra urges public authorities to consult widely on proposals for wind farms and to respect the character of the local landscape.

The Europa Nostra declaration on the impact of wind power on the countryside adopted in The Hague, suggests a series of considerations which should be taken into account by public authorities when considering proposals for on-shore wind turbines. The council said most of these considerations also applied to off-shore wind farms. In Malta, the proposal to site a number of wind turbines on Marfa Ridge has not yet been determined. Local conservation groups Din l-Art Helwa, BirdLife Malta and Nature Trust, although appreciative of the importance of alternative energy, have expressed their concerns to Mepa regarding the proposal, saying that the siting of such a windfarm would create an unacceptable eyesore in an area of high scenic value – one of the few open ridges left in pristine state in Malta. Situated so close to the Nature Reserve at Ghadira and the cliffs at Qammieh, Marfa Ridge has been identified by the Marfa Action Plan as an area of high landscape and environmental value. The exceptional panoramic view not only serves as a tourist attraction but is highly sought by local residents for their recreation. Furthermore, the siting of the windfarms so close to the historic St Agatha’s Tower (Red Tower) would highly compromise the natural context in which this 17th century fortification was built and would mar its visual prominence.

The construction work to establish the windfarms would in themselves cause damage to several areas of garigue and the wildlife they contain and would be a general hazard to the birds frequenting the area, especially broad-winged birds. The environmental groups continue to urge the authorities to find alternative locations for the wind turbine development