Rooksbridge wind farm firm claims photo montages are ‘misleading’ 

Broadview Energy, the company behind plans to build a wind farm near Burnham-On-Sea, claims the photo montages released by campaigners this week to show how the wind turbines might look are ‘misleading’.

Burnham-On-Sea.com first reported on Tuesday how the newly-formed protest group No Pilrow had published the images to demonstrate how it thinks the planned six 140-metre tall turbines at Rooksbridge might look alongside the nine planned by EDF and Ecotricity at East Huntspill.

However, Olly Buck, Development Manager at Broadview Energy, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “These images are inaccurate. We are in the early stages of the project design so we do not yet have a site layout to show the position of the turbines and we do not know the model or height of the turbines.”

“Wind farm developments are designed in accordance with a range of technical requirements and best practice design guidelines – for instance, turbines will typically be a certain distance from each other and from roads.”

“These images do not take account of these factors and are therefore very misleading.”

“As part of our detailed studies, we commission experienced landscape and visual architects who generate accurate predicted views of the site layout once it has been designed.”

“The predicted views comply with long established best practice methods using specialist software which ensure an accurate representation of how the wind farm might look. It is evident that the images produced by No Pilrow have not benefited from any such expertise or software.”

However, No Pilrow’s Nick Woolmington has responded: “We do have a clear plan of the site area of the proposed development supplied to us by Broadview.”

“Broadview’s Issue No1 Newsletter states that – and I quote – ‘initial investigations suggest that the site could accomodate a wind farm of up to six wind turbines each with a height to the tip of the blades of up to 140m’. A simple google search gives us some indication of distances that have to be between turbines of this height and how far from roads.”

Nick added: “In issuing these photos we have done our best to incorporate all the information that Broadview have issued to date and to take these factors into account. Of course, we understand that there will be much fine tuning to be done in putting forward their final plans. The sooner Broadview can give us some indication of what their final plans are likely to be the sooner we can give a fully structured comment on them. In the meantime we cannot accept that the local residents should be deprived of an indication of what this proposal would mean to the area. If Broadview would care to forward their own artist’s impression of what they propose, based upon the parameters that they have already given us, we shall be pleased to include that on our web site.”

Meanwhile, local residents have been invited to attend a public meeting in East Brent next week to discuss the proposals. East Brent Parish Council is holding an open meeting at East Brent Village Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 18th July where both Broadview and the No Pilrow group will be giving their opposing views.

Broadview will also be holding further public exhibitions on Thursday July 21 at East Brent Village hall, from 2pm to 8:30pm; Friday July 22 at Mark Village Hall, from 12pm to 8pm; and Saturday July 23 at The Stables Business Centre in Rooksbridge from 10am to 2pm.