Windfarm approval raises questions in farming community

ScottishPower Renewables have finalised funding for the East Anglia ONE windfarm off the coast of Lowestoft.  The farming community are questioning the decision to put a field in the sea, and urging the government to provide clear directives on procedures to convert harvesters for maritime wind collection.

The energy giant claims the development will generate 714 megawatts of wind energy, enough for the majority of households in East Anglia as, according to PM, everyone North of Colchester uses Rayburns anyway. The £2.5 billion scheme would also generate 3000 jobs and be a strong trigger for a second Scottish Referendum.

However, local farmers feel that they are being kept ‘in the dark’ over processes and terminology. The community also have serious health and safety concerns over operating tractors and ploughs in a maritime environment.

Beccles potato mogul Ted Redhead said: “We are pleased that the government is expanding Suffolk farming further into the sea, a strategy that has not been applied since the 17th century; however, we were concerned they had forgotten about the drainage bit.  You can imagine our surprise to hear they were intending to leave the sea where it was.

 “Not only that, no one knows how many tons of wind a megawatt is, and what size hopper to use to store it.  Obviously the plans will also raise concerns over the volume of wind traffic on the A146 in the summer, but all we ever seem to get is hot air on the subject anyway.”

Farmers are also raising questions about working conditions offshore and the costs involved in converting and running a maritime Massey Ferguson.  Attaching lifeboats, liferafts, a rudder, a brass bell and brass polish all eats into profits. From a safety perspective, Farmers have never claimed to be the most adept at knot tying and note that nothing in the Maritime rules actually states a sea-going tractor is required to float.
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AUTHOR: Nick Covill
AUTHOR EMAIL: nick_covill@msn.com
AUTHOR URL: 
SUBJECT: [Suffolk Gazette] Contact us
IP: 43.243.40.38
Array
(
    [1_Name] =&gt; Nick Covill
    [2_Email] =&gt; nick_covill@msn.com
    [3_Comment] =&gt; Windfarm approval raises questions in farming community

ScottishPower Renewables have finalised funding for the East Anglia ONE windfarm off the coast of Lowestoft.  The farming community are questioning the decision to put a field in the sea, and urging the government to provide clear directives on procedures to convert harvesters for maritime wind collection.

The energy giant claims the development will generate 714 megawatts of wind energy, enough for the majority of households in East Anglia as, according to PM, everyone North of Colchester uses Rayburns anyway. The £2.5 billion scheme would also generate 3000 jobs and be a strong trigger for a second Scottish Referendum.

However, local farmers feel that they are being kept ‘in the dark’ over processes and terminology. The community also have serious health and safety concerns over operating tractors and ploughs in a maritime environment.

Beccles potato mogul Ted Redhead said: “We are pleased that the government is expanding Suffolk farming further into the sea, a strategy that has not been applied since the 17th century; however, we were concerned they had forgotten about the drainage bit.  You can imagine our surprise to hear they were intending to leave the sea where it was.

 “Not only that, no one knows how many tons of wind a megawatt is, and what size hopper to use to store it.  Obviously the plans will also raise concerns over the volume of wind traffic on the A146 in the summer, but all we ever seem to get is hot air on the subject anyway.”

Farmers are also raising questions about working conditions offshore and the costs involved in converting and running a maritime Massey Ferguson.  Attaching lifeboats, liferafts, a rudder, a brass bell and brass polish all eats into profits. From a safety perspective, Farmers have never claimed to be the most adept at knot tying and note that nothing in the Maritime rules actually states a sea-going tractor is required to float.  

)
