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| Wingates, an old hamlet of stone-built houses along a single road, is situated at a height of 200 metres above sea level. The land rises towards the north west, past hills such as Coldrife (246 metres) and Wards Hill (189 metres) to the whale-backed ridge of Simonside (430 metres), the summit of which is only some 5 miles from the hamlet. The ridge of Simonside extends eastwards with subsidiary heights running east to west of Garleigh (268 metres), The Beacon (360 metres), Dove Crag (393 metres), and Old Stell (405 metres). Of these the nearest to Wingates is therefore Garleigh at a distance of 5.4 km (3.35 miles). {Note: all heights and distances taken from OS Pathfinder 511 at 1:25000}
The Simonside massif is relatively small in height and extent, but is scenically excellent, with heather moorland, forests, bogs, and a multitude of rock outcrops and crags. It is criss-crossed by footpaths and bridleways, and the new St Oswald’s Way traverses the hill. Simonside is extremely popular as an outdoor venue for picnics, photographers, sightseers, fellwalkers, fellrunners, rock climbers, orienteers, and mountain bikers and it is likely that people can be found on the fellsides at any time of day at any time of the year and in any weather. Simonside also features evidence of ancient human activity and there is a well-known site of an iron-age fort (at 265 metres) to the west of Garleigh with a signposted ‘cup and ring marked’ rock nearby (at 255 metres). There are other known ancient artifacts too and indeed Simonside has been called ‘the Sacred Mountain’. Being the last major height as an easternmost offshoot of the Cheviot hills, views from Simonside through almost 360 degrees are superlative and far-reaching, especially to the south and east. Garleigh too is well known as a viewpoint in this direction.
Hence Simonside is a wonderful resource for the people of Northumberland and for the Northumbrian tourist industry and provides both the opportunities and means to healthy outdoor activities to young and old.
The proposed windturbines at Wingates will have a height of the order of 450 feet (137.16 metres). If this is the case, then the top of the turbines will be at a height above sea level of approximately 337 metres. This exceeds the heights of Coldrife, Wards Hill, Garleigh, and the hill of the iron age fort, and will be almost that of The Beacon, which terminates the main ridge. {see diagram below}. The windfarm will have a major impact on the Northumbrian landscape.
It must therefore be concluded that any proposed windfarm at Wingates will be visually most intrusive and cannot but fail to dominate the panorama both from and towards Simonside.
Therefore it can hardly be disputed that the proposed windfarm will destroy the views from Simonside and perhaps more damaging, the views towards ‘The Sacred Mountain’ from anywhere to the south and east of the proposed windfarm.
Bill Tomlinson Nov 08  REF Welcomes House of Lords Report on Renewable Energy Costs
The House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs has today published its report on the The Economics of Renewable Energy.
The report draws attention to the very high cost of subsidy mechanisms necessary to move towards meeting the current EU renewable energy targets for 2020, and the pressing need for new conventional generation. In common with many other analysts the Committee concludes that this target is only doubtfully feasible, and if achieved would result in an energy system that is both costly and fragile. Furthermore, such a system could actually be counterproductive in terms of reducing emissions.
As the report states:
"Determination to meet the target may lead to over-emphasis on short term options, simply because they are available, rather than because they offer the most effective and economical means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions over the longer term."
The report recommends that Government look more broadly in the energy sector for options to reduce emissions, and turns its attention to improving the technical capabilities of renewables, particularly in relation to the storage of electricity.
This report contrasts sharply with the Chancellor's announcement in yesterday's pre-Budget report that the Renewables Obligation, a technology blind subsidy already costing consumers nearly £1 billion a year, will be extended until 2037. REF applauds this lucid and constructive report, and agrees with the Committee's emphasis on the need for research and development over visible but suboptimal development.
Dr John Constable, Director of Policy and Research for REF said: "Clumsy income support subsidy for renewable energy has killed research and development in the UK by over-rewarding investors for projects providing little or no benefit to the public. The House of Lords report shows a way out of this problem and we wait to see if Government will have the courage to accept its advice."
 Wind Farm Noise : A Call for revisions to ETSU-R-97
A report has been released by the DTI [now BERR] which addresses the issue of wind turbine noise. It was written by the Hayes McKenzie Partnership which frequently acts on behalf of wind farm developers and was involved in the writing of the current noise guidance for wind farms: 'ETSU-R-97, The Assessment and Rating of Noise from Wind Farms, 1996'. The new report describes an investigation into low frequency noise at neighbouring properties to three different UK wind farms where noise complaints had been made. The authors discount low frequency noise as a significant problem. However, they do state that amplitude modulation, commonly know as ‘blade swish’ noise, can be a problem. Their report concludes that, on occasion, blade swish is disturbing enough to prevent occupants of nearby dwellings from going to sleep although not sufficiently disturbing to wake them if already asleep. The report authors found that even when the overall noise level inside a bedroom was less than the sleep disturbance threshold proposed in the WHO guidelines, the distinctive noise signature of the wind turbine blade swish attracted the attention of the listener and caused difficulty in returning to sleep.The report states that the blade swish noise is more extreme for some wind farms and at some properties and particularly at night time. Significantly, the report acknowledges that the magnitude of the ‘swish’ noise is greater than was anticipated in the ETSU-R-97 guidelines and recommends that the issue should be re-visited possibly with a view to including a penalty in any noise condition to take into account blade swish noise. This would effectively lower the permitted noise at neighbouring dwellings. This report is available on the DTI website.
Click on the link on the right hand side of the page under the heading ‘Related Documents’, entitled ‘The measurement of low frequency noise at three UK wind farms’. Sept 14th, Sunday Telegraph, "Expensive and inefficient: the wind farm verdict" Unprofitable turbines rely on hefty subsidies that are paid for by cash-strapped customers in the form of rising bills, says report.
Wind farms are failing to deliver value for money and distorting the development of other renewable energy sources. Excessive subsidies make them an expensive and inefficient way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a study by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) think-tank says. The report comes amid mounting disquiet over the number of wind farms planned for Britain.
Energy companies want to erect more than 3,000 turbines over the next five years, leading to fears that hundreds of acres of rural landscape will be blighted.
Critics insist that wind energy is too inefficient to replace the creaking network of fossil fuel power stations. Even with modern turbines, wind farms are unable to operate at full capacity because of the unreliable nature of Britain's wind.
The industry admits that for up to 30 per cent of the time, turbines are idle because wind speeds are either too low to turn the blades, or too high, risking damage to the machines.
Without any suitable method of storing the excess power produced when winds are blowing but electricity use is low, many turbines also have to be turned off for fear of overloading the grid.
The report says that wind farms are unprofitable and rely on hefty subsidies that ultimately come from consumers in the form of rising energy prices. This cost comes on top of increases in gas and electricity prices caused by the high price of oil. They risk leaving the poorest members of society struggling to heat their homes.
The report, written by John Constable, of REF, and Robert Barfoot, the chairman of the North Devon branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, says that the subsidy scheme is encouraging energy firms to build as many wind farms as possible because it is more profitable than investing in other more expensive forms of renewable technology, such as wave power.
They say: "The market for renewable energy is an artificial one created and maintained by government legislation. The question is whether this consumer-derived money is well spent. It is worth noting that the excessive subsidy offered to onshore wind development has drawn developers even to sites where the wind resource is very weak and the environmental impact severe."
Backed by large subsidies, companies have put in planning applications for 235 wind farms. The plans would see 3,189 turbines, many more than 400ft tall, installed by 2013. At present, there are 176 wind farms operating 2,033 turbines onshore and at sea, providing power for the equivalent of 1.42 million homes.
In 2006-07 more than £217 million was paid to energy firms under the subsidy scheme, known as the Renewables Obligation. Under the scheme, energy companies must obtain a proportion of their power from renewable sources, 6.7 per cent at present rising to 15 per cent by 2015. Those that fail to meet these targets pay a fine that is then shared between all the companies that have obtained energy from "green" sources. For every megawatt of green energy they sell, a company receives about £50 at present.
The Renewable Energy Foundation says that consumers ultimately end up funding the subsidies because energy firms that pay fines pass the costs on to customers.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England, which campaigns against the building of wind farms, attacked the rapid growth in the number being constructed.
A CPRE spokesman said: "There is a role for wind energy in providing electricity in the UK, but its intermittency and major visual impact limit the potential contribution of onshore turbines."
Other critics claim that wind farms pose a risk to wildlife such as birds and bats.
A spokesman for the British Wind Energy Association, which represents the wind power industry, defended the Renewable Obligation payments, claiming that they were necessary to help provide energy security. He said: "The question is whether we want to pay moderately higher prices to secure a secure and clean domestic energy source, or do we want to be dependent on imported fossil fuels?"
Critics have estimated that by 2020 the cost of the Renewables Obligation could rise to more than £3 billion.
The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is reassessing the Renewables Obligation scheme. Proposed changes could mean that bands are introduced for different sources of renewable energy.
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