This note sets out the main arguments in favour of locating a major wind farm at the Fullabrook site in North Devon. 

Local media coverage of Devon Wind Power’s plans for the wind farm at Fullabrook has not been well balanced and the arguments in favour of the proposals have been largely ignored.

DWP urges those who support the plans to make their views known in writing to the Department of Trade & Industry who are currently considering the application.   Contact details are given at the end of this document.

Alternative Energy

• Some scientists now agree that global warming is caused partly by burning fossils fuels such as oil, gas & coal.   For the sake of future generations, we must act now to encourage alternative energies such as wind power.
• Without renewable energy and wind power it will be more difficult to resist pressure for new nuclear power plants to be built.
• On-shore wind farms are the most advanced and efficient alternative technology currently available.
• The Fullabrook wind farm alone will help to achieve the government's aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions  - it will mean 150,000 tonnes less of carbon dioxide being produced each year and will help to lower sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions.

Need for Fullabrook Wind Farm

• The Government has set a target of achieving 10% of Britain’s energy requirement from all alternative sources by 2010, rising in future years.   With only 3% of current energy needs currently met from alternative sources we have a very long way to go even to reach this first stage.
• In Devon a target has been set of achieving between 207 and 545 megawatts of power from renewable sources by 2010, of which a minimum of 103 megawatts is to come from on-shore wind. If renewable energy is to have any chance of combating global warming, it is vital that these targets are met across the UK.
• The Fullabrook wind farm will generate sufficient power for some 37,000 homes – almost all of the total domestic electricity requirement for North Devon.

Alternatives to Fullabrook

• There are few sites in North Devon, outside the two national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, where there is sufficient wind to site a major wind farm.  Careful research across the whole County has shown that Fullabrook offers the best balance between power roduction and visual impact.
• The application for the wind farm at Fullabrook is for a temporary use for a period of 25 years after which the turbines could be dismantled and the existing landscape restored if there is no further need for them.
• Refusing the Fullabrook application could mean more turbines would be required throughout Devon, including North Devon, to meet the 103 megawatt target with a greater visual impact across the County as a whole.

Local economy

• Local people in this part of Devon need new jobs and new business.   The Fullabrook wind farm will create jobs and business for local firms, particularly during the construction phase.
• Elsewhere in the country wind farms of this size have spent at least £5m on contracts with local businesses, employed around 100 people during construction in addition to creating, on average, four permanent jobs.
• Council tax in North Devon is already high – the Fullabrook wind farm will generate at least £150,000 per annum in business rates which could be put towards local services.

Landscape

• There is a body of opinion that considers wind turbines to be an attractive addition to the landscape.
• The Fullabrook site is within the Devon County Structure Plan’s area of search for wind farm development and is not within either a National Park or an area of landscape protection.
• The Fullabrook wind turbines will not spoil the views from the protected areas of coastline in North Devon or from Exmoor National Park.
• Care has been taken to select a site in a sparsely populated part of Devon in order to minimise the number of people who will be able to see the turbines from close up.
• The wind farm is designed to be a reversible development, which allows for all visible evidence of it to be removed at the end of its life.  It would be helping to safeguard the environment of future generations for this proposal to get the go-ahead.

Wildlife & Ecology

• The majority of the site is intensively managed agricultural land so there should be only very limited loss of wildlife habitat such as hedges and trees.
• Most wildlife will be completely unaffected by the wind farm.
• Climate change is a much bigger threat to our wildlife than wind farms because of potential loss of habitat.
• The Fullabrook wind farm is sited outside any known designated sites for birds or bats, - rigorous on site surveying and assessment undertaken as part of the applicant's environmental statement has shown that there will be no long-term significant effects upon birds or bats.

Noise

• Modern wind turbines are much quieter than the early examples of this technology.
• Extensive on-site investigations have established that noise levels from the wind turbines will be low and, when audible at all, can be compared favourably with other rural background noises.

Tourism

• Tourists in North Devon mainly visit the beaches, the coastal paths and Exmoor National Park.   The Fullabrook wind farm will either not be visible at all from these areas, or the views will be long distance and unobtrusive.
• Research undertaken by the University of the West of England in North Devon in summer 2004– which interviewed real tourists – showed the development of a major wind farm at Fullabrook would not damage local tourism.   This is consistent with what has happened elsewhere in the country.

Letters and e mail should be addressed as follows:

Walter Gusmag Esq
Department of Trade & Industry
Bay 2123
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET

E mail: walter.gusmag@dti.gov.uk

Please quote: Proposed Wind Farm at Fullabrook, North Devon.