We were privileged to attend a very informative meeting on the wind turbine plans, hosted by the ITBF (Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Federation) in Tullamore last night. The meeting was chaired by Joe Osborne, Managing Director of Kildangan Stud and was aimed at getting all the facts regarding the planned projects. Both Element Power and Maistream were invited to attend and put forward the case for, both declined. Some of the other speakers on the night were Henry Fingleton, Nora Fagan, Declan McEvoy and Professor Alun Evans. Henry Fingleton opened the meeting by explaining the background to this project. He explained that there was plans for 2500 Turbines. He explained that it is cheaper to build in Ireland than offshore in the UK. Contracts between the two companies and the UK are already in place. Mainstream have approx 500 farmers signed up. Up to 2000 farmers are signed up between the two companies. Nora Fagan went into the contracts in depth. She was extremely informative and produced a landowner contract which she analysed in great detail. Similar to David Reid at our Kildangan Meeting, she emphasised that the contracts were very onerous on the landowners concerned. A second type of document was produced from the floor, which was a contract to keep quiet. Neighbours of the landowner receive a sum of money if they sign away their right to object. Professor Alun Evans explained at length the health implications of wind turbines. The main issue is with the sound produced, both in the audible and inaudible areas. The noise generated by wind turbines has a large low frequency and infra-sound component that is attenuated less with distance than the higher frequency noise. This low frequency component is made worse by enclosures such as buildings rooms etc. The noise has an effect of disturbing a persons sleep, leading to various health issues, such as reduced cognitive function, stress anxiety etc. Professor Evans, along with Chris Hanning published a paper in The British Medical Journal on wind turbine noise in 2012. Professor Evans explained that the current regulations with respect to turbine set back, ETSU-R-97 are very outdated and unsuitable for the larger modern type turbine. Again, his points were broadly similar to what Sean Casey had to say at our meeting on 14th August. From the floor various members of the bloodstock industry voiced their concerns regarding the impact of turbines on human and animal health, property prices etc. One trainer gave an example of how a turbine was placed 200m from his gallops, when he objected to the company he was offered €5000 per year to stay quiet. All in all, a very informative and well conducted meeting which echoed many of the issues raised at our information meeting on 14th August. Hopefully the wind turbine companies will start to engage soon with the communities affected.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 09:57:56 +0000
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