An innovative community wind turbine project in north east Suffolk is blowing up a storm with local residents. At an open meeting last week, organised by the environmental group Cookpole Energy Action (CEA), villagers from the valley of Cookley near Halesworth were horrified to learn that their picture postcard hamlet has been earmarked for at least two wind turbines.
CEA was set up last year by five residents from Walpole, a village of approximately 215 people, and one representative from Cookley, a rural hamlet with a population of just 80, with the intention of reducing the community’s carbon footprint, fossil fuel use and energy costs. Although the initiative has been hailed as an eco-triumph throughout the county, many of Cookley’s residents didn’t know all the details of the proposed wind turbine project until it was announced last week that two turbines could be dumped on their landscape.
“CEA organised a survey to assess ‘green’ views in both villages last year but we don’t recall giving our views on wind turbines,” said Cookley resident Sarah Shephard. “Yet suddenly we were reading in the papers and hearing on the radio that apparently most of us thought it was a marvellous idea. It’s not that we’re not eco-friendly in Cookley or that we don’t admire CEA’s impressive aims and intentions but a significant number of villagers think that the viability of a wind power is questionable and using it as a long-term means of generating money for the community isn’t worth the risks involved.”
“My concerns are that the subsidies that make wind turbines attractive will not be sustained in the longer-term and I don’t believe it’s worth spoiling an attractive area of countryside for what may be an uncertain future, in terms of gains for the environment and the local community,” continued Cookley resident Mark Stephen.
Cookley resident Jane Evers said: “When the wind blows the low frequency noise from a turbine is relentless and can even penetrate double-glazing. It is impossible to know whom this type of noise will affect but the lives of those who are sensitive to it could be ruined. In our area in the evenings and at night you can listen to the silence. Do we want to deny ourselves forever this gift which we are privileged to have?”
The situation escalated to crisis point for Cookley residents last week when three shortlisted sites for the turbines were announced; two locations in Cookley and just one in Walpole. A final decision on the two sites to be used will be made once full technical assessments have been carried out and the planning process completed. Meanwhile Cookley’s distraught residents have pledged to do everything they can to keep their beautiful valley unblemished but are very keen to pursue other ways in which they may be able to support the aims of CEA.
