With perfect timing the British Wind Energy Association told a conference
yesterday that Britain was set to become the world's biggest producer of
electricity from offshore wind farms next year. Currently the UK has just two
off-shore farms, but before the end of next year another nine, each of them
operating with 30 turbines, should be in operation. The conference coincided
with the opening of a public inquiry into a controversial onshore wind farm
planned for the edge of the Lake District. The inquiry is expected to last for
at least six weeks and hear 100 witnesses. The £55m project - which would
involve 27 turbines standing 400ft high - has split the British environmental
movement.
The proposal has been opposed by both the Council for the Protection of Rural
England and the Council for National Parks. Along with an array of celebrities -
Chris Bonnington, Melvyn Bragg and David Bellamy - the opponents of the scheme
will argue the project will ...