Bullington Cross Wind Farm

On 8 April 2013, EDF Energy submitted its planning application for the proposed Bullington Cross wind farm. The proposal would involve constructing 14 wind turbines, with a combined generation capacity of 28MW. Averaged out over a year, the turbines would generate enough zero-carbon energy to supply 13,000 homes.

We need as many supporting comments as possible to be posted on the Council planning websites  Basingstoke Council, Test Valley Council, Winchester Council. It’s best to add your comments to all three sites if you can. But if you can only do one then pick Test Valley.

Key points to make are that wind farms:

  1. Clean.  It does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. It does not produce soot, or emit Nitrous Oxides, Sulphur Dioxide, fly ash or Mercury.
  2. Cheap. It is the cheapest way to renewably generate electricity; it is cheaper than nuclear.
  3. Quiet. It produces less noise than an A road. When the wind is not blowing they are silent.  When the wind is blowing hard you can only hear the wind.
  4. Efficient. The wind is free. Wind turbines produce energy 70% of the time.
  5. People in North Hampshire support wind farming. At a national level 64% of people support wind farms and only 11% of people are opposed to on-shore wind farms.
  6. Bullington Cross is the best place in Hampshire for wind farming. It’s windy; it’s remote and it’s noisy (crossroads of the county’s two biggest A roads.  The nearest village is 3 km away.

Research shows that most people support wind farms and renewable energy in general. Sadly, the people who oppose wind turbines tend to capture the public stage with an innaccurate portrayal of how modern wind turbines work in practice. Please make sure that debates in the media reflect the views of the majority who believe wind farms should be part of our energy mix.

Some otherwise sensible people argue that wind farms don’t contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. They’ve been misled by the myths in the press. The evidence shows that onshore wind is more cost-effective and cleaner than any of the current sources of energy being used in Hampshire. Help us set the facts straight so that they can base their views on the truth.

It should also be mentioned that local energy generation gives communities an opportunity to own a stake in and gain a benefit from it. The development presents an opportunity for a proportion of the proposed windfarm at Bullington Cross to be community owned. The developers may accept a bid from residents living near the wind farm to raise some of the capital required from an open invitation to small investors. If this scheme is successful the community would benefit financially from the energy generated by these turbines. This is a model of renewable energy development that has seen success in Denmark and Germany, and is now increasingly being used in the UK.

Contact your local ward councillor and tell them how important wind power is. If you don’t know their name, email or postal address, the Council website will list it. Here’s a list of all of the Councillors serving Basingstoke and Dean Borough Council.

Contact the environment portfolio holder at your local Council. For Basingstoke and Dean Borough, it’s Councillor Robert Donnell: cllr.robert.donnell@basingstoke.gov.uk .

Add your views to the Basingstoke Gazette website and present the case for wind, or send a letter to the editor.

Write to the Development Control Committee. Put your views on your Facebook page. Tweet about it.

For facts and suggestions of what to say, see