07/06/2008
UK - First wind turbine in North York Moors National Park
A dairy farmer has installed a wind turbine to generate his own environmentally friendly electricity. It's believed to be the first one of its kind in the Whitby area and in the North York Moors National Park.
The North York Moors National Park planning committee approved the turbine, despite refusing to allow a turbine earlier this year some miles away. Andy Welford, with his wife Barbara, is a third generation farmer on the family farm near Scaling Dam.
With 180 cows to milk daily they are high electricity consumers but now they are hoping their newly installed 80ft high turbine will provide a large proportion of the electricity they use.
The turbine and its installation cost about £30,000 but they hope it will pay for itself in about seven years. Mr Welford's is the first one of its type in the national park but wind turbines come in a number of different designs and although it's suitable for its location similar ones may not be in other places – for example, in the Esk Valley where they need to be much lower.
He said: "We use about four to five times as much electricity as a normal household and with the way prices are shooting up we're hoping the turbine will prove cost effective. "With the issue of global warming I believe we have to move to a more sustainable future.
"I'm very keen to do something for the environment and the reduction of carbon emissions." With regard to the possibility of complaints about noise from the turbine, Mr Welford said: "We're away from other houses and present-day wind turbines are very quiet.
"I asked all my neighbours what they thought about it and none of them had any complaints." Earlier this year Nigel Wilson, who lives in Westerdale, failed to get planning permission from the national park to install a 30ft high wind turbine on his property, despite appealing to a government inspector against the decision of the national park. The inspector upheld the park's verdict that Mr Wilson's turbine would be a "prominent and unwelcome feature in the landscape".
In response to a Whitby Gazette query about the difference in the decisions chief planning officer Val Dilcock said: "We very much looked at them on a site specific basis.
"We're quite keen to approve wind turbines but not if they will be harmful to the landscape."
The North York Moors National Park planning committee approved the turbine, despite refusing to allow a turbine earlier this year some miles away. Andy Welford, with his wife Barbara, is a third generation farmer on the family farm near Scaling Dam.
With 180 cows to milk daily they are high electricity consumers but now they are hoping their newly installed 80ft high turbine will provide a large proportion of the electricity they use.
The turbine and its installation cost about £30,000 but they hope it will pay for itself in about seven years. Mr Welford's is the first one of its type in the national park but wind turbines come in a number of different designs and although it's suitable for its location similar ones may not be in other places – for example, in the Esk Valley where they need to be much lower.
He said: "We use about four to five times as much electricity as a normal household and with the way prices are shooting up we're hoping the turbine will prove cost effective. "With the issue of global warming I believe we have to move to a more sustainable future.
"I'm very keen to do something for the environment and the reduction of carbon emissions." With regard to the possibility of complaints about noise from the turbine, Mr Welford said: "We're away from other houses and present-day wind turbines are very quiet.
"I asked all my neighbours what they thought about it and none of them had any complaints." Earlier this year Nigel Wilson, who lives in Westerdale, failed to get planning permission from the national park to install a 30ft high wind turbine on his property, despite appealing to a government inspector against the decision of the national park. The inspector upheld the park's verdict that Mr Wilson's turbine would be a "prominent and unwelcome feature in the landscape".
In response to a Whitby Gazette query about the difference in the decisions chief planning officer Val Dilcock said: "We very much looked at them on a site specific basis.
"We're quite keen to approve wind turbines but not if they will be harmful to the landscape."
- Source:
- Online editorial www.windfair.net
- Author:
- Posted by Trevor Sievert, Online Editorial Journalist
- Email:
- ts@windfair.net
- Link:
- www.windfair.net/...
- Keywords:
- wind energy, wind farm, renewable energy, wind power, wind turbine, rotorblade, offshore, onshore
