PRESS RELEASE

EARTH, WIND, AND FIRE

The proposal for a wind farm between Burnham-on-Sea and Brent Knoll in Sedgemoor, within a few hundred meters of Old People’s homes, social housing, a primary school, a village hall, local park, footpaths and bridal ways, has led local residents to raise questions about the Health and Safety risks that may be associated with such a development at this location.

The attached photographs illustrate that in other locations such developments have come crashing to earth.

December 2003 in Lichtenau, Austria

July 2003 in Flint Hills, Kansas

Another problem seems to be the turbines catching on fire; one of the most recent and significant fires was on the 23^rd of December, when one of the five 200ft wind turbines at the Nissan Car plant in Sunderland caught fire.

According to the Renewable Energy Foundation [“REF”], the entire structure, including nacelle (the box on top of the tower, to which the blades are attached) and 75ft long blades were destroyed. Police were forced to close the nearby A1231 and A19 for over an hour and half, until the turbine structure had burned away, because of safety fears. REF indicate that fires are a well-documented problem at wind farms in other parts of Europe, which has much more experience with wind turbines than the UK.

A spokesperson for KNOll to Wind Farm, an Action Group opposed to the siting of a wind farm at this location commented

“Whilst we would not claim to be Health and Safety experts, reports and pictures of such incidences have created a lot of concern. A widespread view in the community is that it appears folly to unnecessarily create a potential risk, when siting turbines well away from large local communities would eliminate such risk. We trust that the Planning Authorities will take this into consideration when reviewing this opportunistic commercial proposal.”