UK - Alberton man seeks approval for six-storey wind turbine

Alberton's town council held a special meeting last week to decide whether a resident on the outskirts of town can erect a 27-metre wind turbine in his back yard. Ron Flynn would like to buy a turbine that was once part of California's power generation system. The turbine is for sale on the internet at a cost of $25,000. Flynn is motivated by environmental concerns, not the cost-savings, if there are any. The wiring alone could cost him thousands of dollars, he says. "If not wind, then what? Do you burn oil? Do you burn coal? Do you burn wood?" he asks. "Wind is the only renewable resource we have that's non-polluting. I'm making a statement, is all I'm doing." However, none of Alberton's bylaws apply to wind turbines.

Mayor Pat Murphy says the town will likely have to look to provincial regulations. These dictate that the land a turbine sits on must be twice as wide as the turbine is tall. Flynn's home sits on two acres on the outskirts of town. His property is about 55 metres wide. The turbine is about the height of a six-storey building. Murphy has other concerns. He says he's heard complaints about the noise a turbine might make, and is worried about how it would impact the skyline. And finally, if one person puts up a turbine… "If we go ahead and allow one prematurely, that pretty well opens the door for anyone who wants to put one up anywhere in town," says Murphy. "I'd just like to know, and council would like to know, if that's what the public wants. Do they want everybody to be able to have their own windmill?" Flynn says he hopes to learn by Tuesday whether he can go ahead with his plan.