PROPOSED WIND FARMS

paidinanthony

Just wondering on peoples level of awareness of proposed wind turbines in the Westmeath area and accross the Midlands.I believe negotiations are ongoing with the IFA ,the developement company ,and landowners on proposed locations.Thes meetings are not public knowledge.There has been two public information meetings held in the Bloomfield hotel by the Lake Lands Windfarm Information Group.It is alarming the proposed size of the turbines (540 ft).The Cathedral looks like a toy beside one.It is an American company which is trying to proceed with this.All electricty generated is to be exported to Great Britan.The developers are trying to get it classed as major strategic importance hence bypasssing our local planning authority and going straight to an Board Pleanala.

childsplay

I have heard nothing about this and I am guessing that quite a lot of other people are in the same boat. If the benefits were going to be felt here I might take a different view but as they are going to another country, I am completely opposed to this idea.

paidinanthony

It is fair to say that every one is in favour clean energy.However the sheer size of these turbines are enormous.The way that the developement company is handling its afairs is alarming.Contact your local elected representatives.The are all aware of what is happening.

Eiriu

It is absolutely ridiculous that we should even consider building these wind farms throughout the Irish Countryside. They should only be built in area which have very low populations such as large bogs or coastal areas.

British policy is not to build these windfarms as they are unsightly and ruin the countryside landscape. However they need a certain amount of green energy in order to fulfill global warming commitments and are therefore looking to deface the Irish countryside. Will they be looking to build these near historical sites such as Uisneach?

I know Ireland is broke at the moment but there are many other ways which we can generate funds. We should be concentrating on developing our digital capabilities. We could by teaching programming in primary and secondry schools, to give ourselves a unique strategic advanatage at what is the dawn of the internet age. We are a creative people and therefore well positioned to excel in this new information age. The oil which has been found should also be taxed accordingly.

paidinanthony

Current planning laws will allow one of these turbines to be erected 500 metres from the nearest dwelling.This is far to close considering their height.Studies carried out reveal that people living near these turbines suffer headaches ,anxiety.sleepness due to constant noise.It is important people start to investigate where these turbines are to be located.There are quite a few proposed for Westmeath.It is planed that these wind farms will be in full production by end 2018.If planning is approved it will be too late protesting !

Eiriu

Where can you see where they are going to be built.

They will undoubtedly disturb anyone one in their area, they should'nt be built in Westmeath. The local people, bar landowners will not benefit at all from them but they will be negatively effected.

How are windfarms suited to the Irish countryside, but disallowed in Britain?

Jesus Shaves

great idea, whether people like it or not renewable energy sources are the way forward, Anyone against them need to get out of the stone age and start living up to reality

nice_guy80

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

great idea, whether people like it or not renewable energy sources are the way forward, Anyone against them need to get out of the stone age and start living up to reality

will they be built beside your house?

hedzball

Eiriu wrote: »

It is absolutely ridiculous that we should even consider building these wind farms throughout the Irish Countryside. They should only be built in area which have very low populations such as large bogs or coastal areas.

Oh you mean like Westmeath yeah?. :P


I'd put money on costal areas having a far denser population.

I don't see peoples problem to them aesthetic wise. They are rather majestic in there own right.

I'm waiting for comments on about how much noise they produce next :rolleyes::rolleyes: (which is shag all and I have em just over half a mile up the road).

The downfalls are they just aren't viable.

The infrastructure costs involved are stupid! the only reason they are putting out power is because they are getting huge subsidies. .



Irelands finest gimmick... But sure if it gives lads work..




'hdz

Jesus Shaves

nice_guy80 wrote: »

will they be built beside your house?

I wouldn't mind if they were

athlonelad

I personally don't believe we have enough renewable energy in this country at all. Its something we should be investing in.
I'd love to have my house powered by wind. 500m is a pretty big distance to be fair. There won't be much noise from that far away.

childsplay

The major problem I can see with this is that we won't get the benefits of this project. The power will be supplied to the british grid. The land owners will get an annual payment but the rest of us get no benefit from them. The British grid needs more power but only a percentage is allowed to come from wind as the wind power is only generated as long as the wind is blowing. That's why they are looking to come in to Ireland and erect these turbines.

Gurgle

childsplay wrote: »

The land owners will get an annual payment but the rest of us get no benefit from them.

Other than a few hundred jobs of course, in construction and maintenance. And taxes. Maybe a bit of infrastructure. Oh yeah, expertise in wind energy.

Iomega Man

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

great idea, whether people like it or not renewable energy sources are the way forward, Anyone against them need to get out of the stone age and start living up to reality

Be that as it may I doubt that you'd like one on your doorstep.

More importantly one of the issues raised when there was a proposal to build these out in Gaybrook was that the company would have an input as regards planning regulations in the area.

Basically, you want to apply for planning permission you can be automatically turned if the windfarm company feel that this impinges on their operation in any way.

So it has implications for generations to come.

They are a bloody blight on the landscape!!!

They should get their heads out of their asses and explore wave/tidal options instead.

Think of all that energy being wasted on the cliffs and shoreline of this country.

IM

Gurgle

Iomega Man wrote: »

They are a bloody blight on the landscape!!!

What landscape?
We're talking about Westmeath here, not Connemara. Something new and modern like windfarms could only improve the place. At least there would be something to look at.

Outkast_IRE

How many of the objecters on here have actually visited a wind farm ?

I can tell you this, they arent noisy once your a few hundred meters away. You should visit a site.

Even though planning permission says 500 meters minimum, they will look at location of dwellings thouroughly when choosing their sites.

Iomega Man

Gurgle wrote: »

What landscape?
We're talking about Westmeath here, not Connemara. Something new and modern like windfarms could only improve the place. At least there would be something to look at.

Well simply put, beauty definitely is in the eye of the beholder.
I'm sorry that you don't share that.

ifeelill

paidinanthony wrote: »

It is an American company which is trying to proceed with this.

Why is that relevant are you a racist ?

Eiriu

Westmeath contains the Hill of Uisneach, which is an important historical site in the context of our national history and what it means to be Irish.


To suggest that Westmeath has no landscape is fairly stupid.

paidinanthony

I think that some people are missing the point here.The energy here will be all exported.These turbines will be almost 200metres high.There are no inland turbines of this size at the moment.As bad as property prices are at the moment,can you imagine what a 200metre high monstrosity would do to the value of your house.The annoying part is this company Airstream is already lobbying politicians.The people living near these turbines may have very little hope of stopping them.

hedzball

ifeelill wrote: »

Why is that relevant are you a racist ?

Hardly racist now is it?..

Bigotry maybe..

But he hasn't said more merely an enquiry ..

Markcheese

childsplay wrote: »

I have heard nothing about this and I am guessing that quite a lot of other people are in the same boat. If the benefits were going to be felt here I might take a different view but as they are going to another country, I am completely opposed to this idea.

You could take the view that if the power is being exported , it's more to Ireland's benefit than anyone else's ...

paidinanthony

It will be of benefit to the British.The local Land owner.The developer.The revenue .The co.co..The big big losers are the neighbours of these land owners

paidinanthony

In reply to the racist comment I think the contibuter is not really interested in discussing windmills.And should educate themselves on the meaning of the word racist

Outkast_IRE

paidinanthony wrote: »

It will be of benefit to the British.The local Land owner.The developer.The revenue .The co.co..The big big losers are the neighbours of these land owners

If its a large wind farm then some staff will be needed on site all the time.
And the site preparation phase is huge really with these sites lot of people employed for the duration of the construction and preparation.

I dont see how neighbouring the land would affect you, lots of people quite like the look of a wind farm.

I dont see what the relavance of where the energy is goin is ? We now potentially with the interconnector buy energy off the british anyway dont we ?

paidinanthony

ifeelill wrote: »

Why is that relevant are you a racist ?

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

If its a large wind farm then some staff will be needed on site all the time.
And the site preparation phase is huge really with these sites lot of people employed for the duration of the construction and preparation.

I dont see how neighbouring the land would affect you, lots of people quite like the look of a wind farm.

I dont see what the relavance of where the energy is goin is ? We now potentially with the interconnector buy energy off the british anyway dont we ?

The fact that I might have to live 500metres from a 200metre high construction.I think might be a little iritating ?The exporting comment means that it will not contribute anything to Irelands own renewable energy targets.

Outkast_IRE

paidinanthony wrote: »

The fact that I might have to live 500metres from a 200metre high construction.I think might be a little iritating ?The exporting comment means that it will not contribute anything to Irelands own renewable energy targets.

Irelands own renwable energy targets are fantasy land. There are currently as far as i know over 3000 applications for generation grid connections at the moment, a developer wont invest anything until he knows he can connect to the grid. These applications are taking a long long time to be looked at by eirgrid etc if they were quicker about it we might be nearer those targets.


I will tell you now as a fact , they will not place a windturbine within wind turbine within 500 meters of your house . Its one of the first things planners look at in the application, they actually use very advanced software to pretty accurately predict the noise levels in the surrounding areas, these form part of the planning applications.

Lastly if you were too near to such a large site, they would probably be calling around looking to buy you out.

And the 200 meter height your saying ? tell me now is that your guess ?
Or is it hub height ? or is it blade tip height ? If you have a link to this 200m height i would like a look at it myself just to read up on this project.

Im currently studying wind energy as part of my degree and planning, wind farm turbine siteing etc is a big part of it, so any definite information from reliable source would be appreciated, have they actually lodged a planning application ?

If your so concerned maybe think about visiting a wind farm as part of a dayout some time, you would be surprised how quiet they can be till you get close.

paidinanthony

I am not an expert on wind energy.I have attended two information meetings in the Bloom field house hotel organised by concerned people living around my area.
Informed speakers at these meetings claim the blade tip at max is 195metres high in these proposed turbines.These will be the largest inland turbines in Ireland if the go ahead.As for buying me out.I quite like living where I am.I like looking out on unspoiled countryside.Really what you are saying that If you have enough money behind you you can build what you like and buy out people whose quality of life you might be affecting.
I do not have a link for you to check this out.There is no planning application lodged yet.However there is efforts being made to sign up landowners who have suitable sites.You could attend the next information meeting held sometime in December by LakeLand wind energy information group.This will be advertised in advance.This will give you a chance to challenge or concur with the facts.

ted1

paidinanthony wrote: »

I am not an expert on wind energy.I have attended two information meetings in the Bloom field house hotel organised by concerned people living around my area.
Informed speakers at these meetings claim the blade tip at max is 195metres high in these proposed turbines.These will be the largest inland turbines in Ireland if the go ahead.As for buying me out.I quite like living where I am.I like looking out on unspoiled countryside.Really what you are saying that If you have enough money behind you you can build what you like and buy out people whose quality of life you might be affecting.

The two information meetings you attended were biased. And probably full of anti wind farm propaganda. You should educate yourself.

paidinanthony

ted1 wrote: »

The two information meetings you attended were biased. And probably full of anti wind farm propaganda. You should educate yourself.

Ted you are making two asumptions there

Outkast_IRE

paidinanthony wrote: »

I am not an expert on wind energy.I have attended two information meetings in the Bloom field house hotel organised by concerned people living around my area.
Informed speakers at these meetings claim the blade tip at max is 195metres high in these proposed turbines.These will be the largest inland turbines in Ireland if the go ahead.As for buying me out.I quite like living where I am.I like looking out on unspoiled countryside.Really what you are saying that If you have enough money behind you you can build what you like and buy out people whose quality of life you might be affecting.
I do not have a link for you to check this out.There is no planning application lodged yet.However there is efforts being made to sign up landowners who have suitable sites.You could attend the next information meeting held sometime in December by LakeLand wind energy information group.This will be advertised in advance.This will give you a chance to challenge or concur with the facts.

It will be very simple really, if your very near one of the turbines they will look to buy you out, if you dont move they will relook at the turbine positioning as , they are strict enough about noise levels from the wind farm at the nearest dwellings.
Wait till the application is lodged before worrying , you could look at the application and the nearest turbine could be well away from your house.

paidinanthony

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

It will be very simple really, if your very near one of the turbines they will look to buy you out, if you dont move they will relook at the turbine positioning as , they are strict enough about noise levels from the wind farm at the nearest dwellings.
Wait till the application is lodged before worrying , you could look at the application and the nearest turbine could be well away from your house.[/Q

My own home is not my one and only concern.And you are correct in saying that I dont even know where the nearest one will be.But keep in mind that the intention is for hundreds of these accross the midlands.There are different numbers being given and I am not sure of the facts.Read the article in the Westmeath Examiner this week.There will be very few places in Westmeath that wont be near one.While Wind energy sounds like the answer to all energy problems I will end by quoting the old saying "all that glitters is not necessarily gold"

Eiriu

These Windfarms will completely transform the landscape and aesthetic of the Irish Midlands Countryside.

These large windfarms are both unnatural and prominent.

With regard to the British element- Am I not correct in saying that Britain will not allow the construction of windfarms in her countryside due to their unsightly nature. I would pass more heed on the views of legislators in that country. Therefore I don't think they should be built here either

Outkast_IRE

Eiriu wrote: »

These Windfarms will completely transform the landscape and aesthetic of the Irish Midlands Countryside.

These large windfarms are both unnatural and prominent.

With regard to the British element- Am I not correct in saying that Britain will not allow the construction of windfarms in her countryside due to their unsightly nature. I would pass more heed on the views of legislators in that country. Therefore I don't think they should be built here either

Your giving an opinion on how they look, you want to ban something over how you feel it looks ?

I like the look of a well designed windfarm as do many others. If you want to stop something going ahead think of a better reason than " i dont like the look of them".

paidinanthony

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Your giving an opinion on how they look, you want to ban something over how you feel it looks ?

I like the look of a well designed windfarm as do many others. If you want to stop something going ahead think of a better reason than " i dont like the look of them".

The British minister for the environment,Mr John Hayes is a longstanding oponent of the further devolopement of further onshore windfarms in the uk.I am sure he is not a fool nor are the British people he represents fools !

Outkast_IRE

paidinanthony wrote: »

The British minister for the environment,Mr John Hayes is a longstanding oponent of the further devolopement of further onshore windfarms in the uk.I am sure he is not a fool nor are the British people he represents fools !

And a single british minister pandering to public opinion in the uk effects us here in ireland how ??

paidinanthony

You have just answered your own question.it effects the midlands rural communities in that we may have these things imposed on us because of that Ministers pandering to the electorate.look at who our own ministers pander to .Angela Merkle ?

athlonelad

paidinanthony wrote: »

You have just answered your own question.it effects the midlands rural communities in that we may have these things imposed on us because of that Ministers pandering to the electorate.look at who our own ministers pander to .Angela Merkle ?

Wind power is cool. It's the way forward. We should use it more.
Your going to argue with anyone who disagrees with you. Why should you or anyone else feel they should be able to stop the landowner making a living on his own land. You are not under any danger and you will be half a kilometre away from them at least.
It's for the greater good. Doesn't matter if it's being exported or not. If it did matter the same argumentccould be made for any Irish product being exported. What are we to do stop exporting cattle,? Guinness? Our dairy products?

paidinanthony

athlonelad wrote: »

Wind power is cool. It's the way forward. We should use it more.
Your going to argue with anyone who disagrees with you. Why should you or anyone else feel they should be able to stop the landowner making a living on his own land. You are not under any danger and you will be half a kilometre away from them at least.
It's for the greater good. Doesn't matter if it's being exported or not. If it did matter the same argumentccould be made for any Irish product being exported. What are we to do stop exporting cattle,? Guinness? Our dairy products?

the only thing you said there thats accurate is "wind power is cool"

athlonelad

paidinanthony wrote: »

I am not an expert on wind energy.

maybe if you
do some more research and come back when you know more. Maybe after you learn about wind energy some more you can make a more educated comment.
You may learn how clean and efficient they are. The good outweighs the bad. Maybe not in your mind at the moment but I bet you would really grow to love them.

Eiriu

I just don't think we should rush into building these windfarms.

Do you not think that it is unacceptable, that the British, having decided to ban the use of onshore windfarms in Britain, wants to build them in the Irish midlands?

Its kind of like when Britain used Ireland for a source of food during the industrial revolution- we are being exploited again. I also have more respect for British rather than Irish policy makers when it comes to long term planning so I therefore agree with their view that onshore windfarms are unsuitable.

Its all very well making the argument that the landowner needs to make a living from the land. However look where such emphasis on short term monetry gains for landowners got us during the celtic tiger. Also owning the freehold to land does not in any way entitle the landowner to do whatever he wants on it. It does not entitle him to build whatever he wants on his land and to ruin the aesthetic of the land around him. If a farmer can't earn a living from farming from his land then he must be bad at it. And if the land is too bad to farm on then he is unlikely to have paid much for it. Any landowners who make make massive profits from these should face a windfall tax.

Landowners wanting to make unearned captial sums off land at the expense of the general population- I think we had enough of that during the Celtic Tiger.

Irish people are not very good at long term strategic planning. All people can think about is the short term monetry gains for landowners and the exchequer in the next two to three years. These windfarms will not even have that massive an impact on the rural economy. However they will blight the landscape for the rest of our lives.

paidinanthony

athlonelad wrote: »

maybe if you
do some more research and come back when you know more. Maybe after you learn about wind energy some more you can make a more educated comment.
You may learn how clean and efficient they are. The good outweighs the bad. Maybe not in your mind at the moment but I bet you would really grow to love them.

Do you think you might be qualified to teach me ?

Outkast_IRE

Look i think im going to bow out of this thread, i came here to make logical proven, fact based points, which i did.

The responses have been basically " but the british are stopping them " just so you know this isnt their stance on wind power at all, one minister made a stupid statement and the government came out straight away and said it wasnt their stance. But the british anti wind power movement seized on it as its the only new thing they can say in years.

If you want to have a fact based discussion dont keep referring to the british, i could just say look at germany , france, spain, portugal, denmark are all still building onshore wind farms.

This isnt a politics of windfarm thread.

Again i ask the question to the detractors have you visited a modern windfarm ?

paidinanthony

This is also my last coment on this thread.I raised this topic because I fear that alot people are not aware of the plans that being worked on at present by a very powerful organisation.I am not against wind energy but I am not willing to accept it in totality just because some profit motivated tycoon like Eddie O Connor of Main Stream renewable power tells us" how lucky the people of the midlands are that he is trying to develope this project here."He actually tries to tell us that it will boost house prices with the increased wealth.It will boost tourism because people are fascinated by them and will come to look at them.I felt that people who were concerned for their rural landscape all made valid point on this topic.However the pro wind group came accross as aggressive and intolerent of any one who might dare question the suitability of the windfarms.(people dont like them must be uneducated).As long as people get a chance to have their concerns heard before this huge enterprise gets the green light.

Goodbye.

Eiriu

Yes I've visited a wind farm and they are quite spectacular looking.

So is the Empire state building, the Sydney opera house ect, ect.

However I do not believe that windfarms fit in the Westmeath rural landscape.

You might claim that Westmeath has no scenic areas, but having lived in the county I would have to disagree.

Think of it like this, If you look across a rural skyline and a massive Windfarm is located in front of you then this is what dominates the image- it is not the countryside. You see the countryside and the windfarm.

Therefore the whole landscape is massively altered. The dominant image that comes into your view is the wind pylons.

I've seen the windfarm that has been built in Kilmore in county Wexford. When you look down the coast from Cullenstown beach, the first thing you notice is the windfarm. As the windfarm is immediately transposed on your consiousness, it takes away the rest of the scenery, that has been there for thousands of years.

I'm from a business background myself, and I am generally very positive toward measures that will kickstart our economic recovery. However taking a machiavellian approach toward recovery, that does not take into account the long term impact on a largely unspoilt rural landscape is not the answer.

I think it is quite selfish from the landowners in question, if they loved their land as they should then they would'nt be looking to build these windfarms. The money earned will be spent in a couple of years but their farms and the lives of their ancestors will be altered for at least a century.

I just suppose some people value the rural landscape more than others.

athlonelad

paidinanthony wrote: »

Do you think you might be qualified to teach me ?

Yeah sure send me a pm and I can get you started on the basics. But I'm not cheap as you can imagine

Gurgle

Eiriu wrote: »

I think it is quite selfish from the landowners in question, if they loved their land as they should then they would'nt be looking to build these windfarms. The money earned will be spent in a couple of years but their farms and the lives of their ancestors will be altered for at least a century.

I just suppose some people value the rural landscape more than others.

I guess its down to priorities.

If you want to generate power without pollution, and preserve/repair the country's ecosystem then its windmills all the way.

If you think its more important that the scenery looks like it did 100 years ago, and don't care what flora and fauna are dying out or what poisonous or radioactive waste is making its way into the food chain then no windmills for you.

nice_guy80

Gurgle wrote: »

I guess its down to priorities.

If you want to generate power without pollution, and preserve/repair the country's ecosystem then its windmills all the way.

If you think its more important that the scenery looks like it did 100 years ago, and don't care what flora and fauna are dying out or what poisonous or radioactive waste is making its way into the food chain then no windmills for you.

plenty of space off the coast to generate power without impacting on people's quality of life and health
same with empty islands off the west coast which would be perfectly suitable

Rasmus

This maybe a silly question but why the heck would An Bord Pleanala agree to export renewable energy? If its internationally funded could they not come to an agreement to somehow divide the yields?

Fuzzy Clam

The part of Westmeath that I reside in has no real merit regarding scenic beauty. Plenty of bog land already being destroyed on a wholesale basis by Bord na Mona so as far as I'm concerned they can erect as many wind turbines as they like.
Unlike the destruction of our bogs, the turbines can be deconstructed in the future and no lasting damage that I'm aware of.
On another level, i actually find them quite pleasing on the eye.

Fuzzy Clam

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

How many of the objecters on here have actually visited a wind farm ?

I can tell you this, they arent noisy once your a few hundred meters away. You should visit a site.

Even though planning permission says 500 meters minimum, they will look at location of dwellings thouroughly when choosing their sites.

I've been near to the ones near Balliborough and don't remember hearing any noise at all. Of course, the wind may have been blowing in the opposite direction.