From This is South Wales news of a landmark victory for local people:
THERE were cheers and applause from the public gallery as plans for 21 wind turbines in Carmarthenshire were rejected by councillors this afternoon.
The planning committee refused to give energy company Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Ltd permission to build on Mynydd Llanllwni, in north east Carmarthenshire.
It remains to be seen if RES will now appeal to the Welsh Assembly against the decision.
Speaking in County Hall in Carmarthen, where members of the public packed the gallery, Llanfihangel ar Arth county councillor Linda Evans said:
“Obviously, developments of this nature will have a long term effect on the lives of people in the area. The landscape will be destroyed forever. Please do not destroy our heritage.”
The committee heard from a range of protestors including David Ablett, from Llanllwni, who said it would endanger birds on the moorland.
“The placing of turbines on the mountain will massacre these beautiful species and the noise of the skylark will be drowned out by the noise of these turbines.”
Other objections related to people using horses on the common land, the negative effect on tourism, damage to the ecology of the area and health problems.
Ted Marynicz, of Grwp Blaengwen, said he represented people suffering from noise from the existing nearby Alltwalis Wind Farm.
“We do not need to rely on suspect computer models to tell you how much noise these turbines make,” he said.
” We hear them every day.
“We beg you not to inflict the torture that wind turbines effect on any more residents in Carmarthenshire.”
John Jones, chairman of the Save Mynydd Llanllwni action group and landlord of the Talardd Arms pub, said:
“The vast majority of my customers, who are a wide cross section of the community, do not want them on the mountain.
“I’ve only heard one or two people saying they are in favour of these turbines and they have a financial interest.
“A power station in Pembrokeshire will [fulfill] all Wales needs and these turbines will provide electricity for over the border.”
RES Project manager David Cox urged the committee to approve the plans, saying they were a vital step in cutting the UK carbon emissions.
“We accept wind farms will have an impact on the landscape but whether they are attractive or not is very subjective.”
He added: “Wind farms are one of the safest forms of energy generation.”
Council planning officers had recommended the application be refused and this was endorsed by the committee by nine votes to four. Planning was therefore refused.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
“Wind farms are one of the safest forms of energy generation.”
By what metric? Electrical energy generated? (deaths/TWh)? Including manufacturing of components and construction; and that of the additional extensive grid required to inter-connect with the supply grid.
What about the death toll that would result if people had to rely on electricity generated by wind?
I doubt very much that constructing a thousand times as many machines would be anywhere near as safe as constructing on plant that produces electricty when it’s needed, around the clock, every day of the year.
Just great! It seems as the UK is, slowly but steadily, coming to a start of the [long] way back to plain common sense in regard of the oxymoron ‘renewable energy’, especially wind.
Looking forward to same here in Sweden… 😉
Brgds/TJ
Wind farms the safest form of energy generation?
You’d have to be dead unlucky if the energy that electrocutes you came from one?
Or perhaps I should have said its impossible for them to electrocute you at the 95% confidence level.
Geoff: Given that 84% of the time they’re not generating any power, this seems like a reasonable estimate. 🙂
“We do not need to rely on suspect computer models to tell you how much noise these turbines make. We hear them every day. We beg you not to inflict the torture that wind turbines effect on any more residents in Carmarthenshire.”
Ted Marynicz, of Grwp Blaengwe is absolutely right. In the good olden days, when I still had hopes that the site could see reason, I have exposed the main problem with wind turbines there.
One should add, that insanely high (and absolutely unregulated) levels of sub Hz noise emitted by industrial scale wind turbines does interfere with hearing as well (while it is not picked up by microphones, only by microbarometers).
There is a very efficient, dynamic, closely regulated frequency selective electromechanical amplifier in our inner ear (cochlea), operated by the so called outer hair cells. This amplifier is reset by high level of (otherwise inaudible) low frequency noise, what is felt as pressure in the ears and like going partially deaf. Sensitive persons can even get sea sickness from excitation of nearby semicircular canals (home to sense of balance), which condition, as it is well known, a bit worse than death itself.
Only loosely related to the issue at hand, but interesting. Ringing in the ears is not an illusion in the traditional sense. A small electrete microphone inserted into the ear canal can pick it up, the signal can be sent to an amplifier, then to a loudspeaker for everyone to hear it. Like any amp, the internal amplifier in our ear can get overexcited and that’s it. There are even cases when the subject can’t hear the ringing, because went deaf in that particular frequency range, but it is still there to be detected, should anyone (mostly audiologists) look for it.
It seems that the impact of infrasound from wind farms haven´t been investigated closely.
Cycles around 7 Hz seems to be of special importantance for humans. See http://journal.borderlands.com/1996/the-sonic-weapon-of-vladimir-gavreau/ which tells a very interesting story about unintentional effect of infrasound on a research team.
Does anyone remember reading about the studies on worms which Charles Darwin carried out for many years? He kept an earthworm farm on his piano, and would watch their behavior in response to different frequencies. Earthworms are highly sensitive to the lower keys on the piano, and would quickly hide in their tunnels. I expect this will affect the arability of land where turbines are installed. This might be acceptable for a power plant that takes up a few acres. But the wind turbines extend far and wide to collect limited and intermittent power. For example, the crests of hills in Vermont would have to be covered for hundreds of miles in order to meet a limited target of electricity supply.
We also know that the lower notes of amplified music more easily penetrate walls, for example, than the higher notes do. And infra sound also effects the cavity in the human torso, where the vital organs are. Infra sound also affects about 20% of the population with a feeling of impending disaster or irrational fear. This may be the same reason why animals seem to know when an earthquake or volcano is going to happen. Infra sound sensors can be the best warning system.
And the fish? How will your own coastal waters be affected, not only for wildlife concerns, but for fishing? And what if the worthless turbines are actually scaring away fish and covering oil reserves in the continental shelf? Then you are a quadruple looser.
zeke
“Earthworms are highly sensitive to the lower keys on the piano, and would quickly hide in their tunnels”
So that was their piano forte.
tim, (: Maybe it was Darwin’s playing.
[…] From This is South Wales news of a landmark victory for local people: THERE were cheers and applause from the public gallery as plans for 21 wind turbines in Carmarthenshire were rejected by councillors this afternoon. […]
“Infra sound also affects about 20% of the population with a feeling of impending disaster or irrational fear.”
An irrational fear of carbon dioxide perhaps?
Well done Carmarthen. I’m a bit confused though (I haven’t read the details.) But this is for 21 turbines. If they used 3MW turbines like the Vestas V90 (Will Vestas have a closing down sale? :-)…Buy one get one free…Bogof Carmagen.)…They can claim it is above 50MW installed capacity. And bypass the council under section 36 of the Electricity Bill….Why haven’t the developers done this. (It is the fashion.)
I agree that wind farm is safest forms of energy generation however there is always a reason why they refuse about it and it seem that they are taking good care of the place and we should respect that one.Looking for location is one of the hard way on installing wind mill,in Finland they are looking for a best place to plant a wind mill that will surely no one will dis agree.Some of people in part of Helsinki use to buy their own wind turbine which they put in their roof and collect electricity that very useful and friendly in our earth.