Wind farms have a role

SIR - Your readers may be aware that an East Herts planning application is soon to be determined on the wind farm proposal at Benington just to the north of our borough near Watton.

Because of its opposition to the wind farm, I have reluctantly decided not to renew my membership of CPRE, The Hertfordshire Society.

Although I find wind turbines some of the more attractive of constructions, I would not of course argue that the three turbines would go unnoticed in a landscape which, although tranquil, has, like much of Hertfordshire, already been seriously damaged by modern farming practices.

My point is that there are bigger issues at stake than the view.

Arguments about the profits to be made by the landowner are irrelevant.

We have seen hundreds of years of damaging human activity bring the natural systems of the planet to the point of collapse and the wind farm industry is clear evidence that there is some way of reversing the destruction while ensuring quality of life; even if we may have to to put up with some inconvenience as a result.

Although we are to see a large construction boom in offshore wind farms, such developments are three times more expensive than onshore.

Further, I believe that wealthy areas of the world should not be preserving their amenities at the expense of places already degraded by human activity.

It is not acceptable to use the planning system to contrive that such developments take place somewhere out of sight; if we expect to use electricity in Hertfordshire we should be prepared to generate it here.

I have browsed the Stop Bennington Wind Farm website and not found any local initiative indicating that protesting residents have any alternative plan to reduce their carbon footprints, so I would urge those of your readers who are CPRE members and who feel as I do, to consider whether they want to carry on supporting CPRE in its campaign against the wind farm.

Adrian Toole,

Sweet Briar, WGC