Nottingham's first proposed wind farms need support.

Your website claims that you have written to Eakring Turbine Action Group to ask for information on our objection to the Windfarm proposed between the villages of Eakring & Bilsthorpe - we have received no such letter ! I am a member of greenpeace and consider myself to be a 'green' campaigner, however this location has been selected on the basis of economics, private ownership and the pusuit of profit at any cost to the environment. Please I urge you to explore the damage which will be caused to the environment in this case before you canvass support from well intentioned green supporters who have no knowledge of the application, the area being considered or the impacts on the local environment. We must get support for truly renewable schemes but we will not achieve it if we canvass support for all schemes whatever the cost. We invite you to consider this and to contact us for more information.

I am all in favour of community owned wind turbine projects so if the above poster and the ETAG action group are not in favour of utility companies providing energy then why aren't you proposing some community led renewable energy schemes in Eakring?? It does sound like a fantastic idea and is certainly workable as the village next to yours is proposing to do this. Perhaps you could take your proposals to Newark and Sherwood Council. It is my understanding that the partnership will involve EAKRING Farming Ltd (the name suggests it is a local company!!!) and as you say the company will be making a profit, well I don't know anyone that sets up a business in order to make a loss. It is certainly good news that renewable energy is profitable because many of the anti-wind groups claim that wind farms are heavily subidised by the government (certainly not to the extent of the nuclear industry I might add).

4 of the turbines will be positioned on the old Bilsthorpe colliery Brownfield site that looks suitable to me. Incidentally if you look at the reports commissioned by NIREX in the 1980's the proposals for nuclear waste storage at old collieries was very favourable so you may have something bigger to fight in the future.

As usual the main arguments against the wind farm is the house price argument, birds (particularly the nightjars - that are more likely to be affected by a road than a wind farm) and human health - none of these claims have been substantiated.

Have you actually ever been to a modern wind farm?

If ETAG were true conservationists then why did they have a 'balloon release' last weekend?? Most of these balloons end up floating off into the sea and get eaten by turtles mistaking them for jellyfish.

For your information I have looked at the proposed site, listened to the arguments and read all the surveys done for this site.

Well Ted, why don't you share with us and substantiate your claims so that everyone can see them. Don't just save them for yourself. How many people did you poll? How noisy is a modern day turbine? How will it cause division in the local community? I wasn't aware anyone had been killed by a turbine - are they really as dangerous as you make out? Please tell us.

As a reminder ETAG'S claims:

81% of villagers polled were against the wind farm development.

Eakring Turbine Action Group believes that the wind farm will:

* Bring no benefit to our local community

* Detract from the natural scale and character of our local environment

* Endanger people living nearby and those visiting the local countryside

* Destroy our quality of life with noise, light flicker and shadows

* Create division among our local community

* Cause economic disadvantage through reduced property values
in the village and surrounding area