John & Mary McCartney ....Windfarm

Statement on proposed wind farms from Councillors John and Mary McCartney
Selby District Councillors for the Eggborough Ward

We are strongly in favour of reducing Britain 's CO2 emissions and that means finding alternative means of generating electricity. Although we would also like to see more done to reduce demand, ie why does the Selby by-pass have to be lit up like Blackpool illuminations throughout the night?

But, we are sceptical about wind generation.

Personally we think that they look okay on hillsides and offshore and have taken the trouble to get very close to a wind farm in Wales to see how noisy it was. Not very, was the answer.

But to replace a coal fired power station we would have to cover all of Yorkshire with wind turbines and we would still have to keep the coal fired station operational for when there was no wind.

As for the specifics about the proposals to locate a wind farm close to Kellingley Colliery and another one in the Gateforth, West Haddlesey area and yet another near Thorpe Willoughby or indeed anywhere else around here, we are strongly opposed to them.

We already have two large power stations, which can be clearly seen from various aspects in our area. With those we get extra traffic, (lorries) and the huge pylons associated with the stations. There is also Kellingley Colliery in the district and another station, Ferrybridge, which can also be clearly seen from many parts of our District.

It is our considered opinion that the Selby District contributes enough to the nation's power generation.

We think that there is a bit of 'their area is already blighted so they can have a bit more?' thinking going on here. That because we do live in a national park or a particularly pretty area that we will not put up much of a fight. And of course these 'wind turbines are vital for the future of Britain 's energy supply'

This was the case when the 10MW, ARBRE wood burning power station was foisted upon the residents of Eggborough a few years ago, against the wishes of local people. We were told that it was for the greater good and that it could only go in Eggborough. The £30 million, (taxpayers money of course) white elephant now stands idle and rusting on Selby Road . Another example of how we have done our bit for Britain 's energy generation.

One of the arguments that are usually put forward for industrial developments is that it will provide jobs. We suspect that we will not hear that about these wind farms because there will be not be any jobs created locally. The only beneficiaries will be the landowners. All the rest of us will get is another blot on our landscape.

We fear that once we have a few wind farms in the district then the argument 'their area is already blighted so they can have a bit more' will be strengthened and we will face pressure for even more. If we are not all vigilant we could end up as the wind farm capital of northern England .
A coal fired power station needed to be built close to the coalfield and next to a river, to provide the cooling water. Fine, and that is why the three power stations were built around here. But, there is no strong justification for building wind farms in the Selby District.

It's not as if we live in a particular windy part of the country which makes it an important area for wind generation, indeed the rest of North Yorkshire with its coastline and hills is much windier than here in the Selby District.

We do not need these wind farms in the Selby District to fulfil our energy requirements. It is to provide energy for places such as York and Leeds, so lets see the wind farms being built on the Knavesmire and Roundhay Park , rather than further blighting our area.

We know that there is a government target for North Yorkshire and suspect that the powers that be will be happy to see that target achieved by building in the Selby District rather than the leafy shires of the rest of the County. Indeed if you add these four projected wind farms to the one at Newland that already has planning permission, then the North Yorkshire target will probably be achieved by just further blighting the Selby District.

They will tell us that they need to build wind farms close to where they can connect to the national grid, which is obviously true,. But that does not mean is has to be close to current power stations. The main pylons carry electricity all over the country so you can connect in anywhere.

Whilst we understand that every planning application has to be treated on its own merits we do feel that we all need to be aware of the potential damage to our local environmental that a host of wind farms could have.