WIND TURBINE COMPANY THREATENS THE BEAUTY OF THE SOUTH DOWNS
The South Downs Society today (12 May 2009) called on the German wind-turbine company, Volkswind, to scrap plans to build two massive wind turbines on the picturesque Salt Hill and Wether Down hilltops in the heart of the South Downs National Park area. At 415 feet in height, the turbines would be more than twice as high as Nelson’s column, and would be as tall as a 40-storey sky-scraper. The structures would dwarf the small wind turbines that have been erected in other national parks in the UK.
Jacquetta Fewster, the Director of the South Downs Society, said: “Renewable energy is an important component of the battle against climate change, but building giant turbines in our most beautiful areas of countryside is not the answer. Alternative renewable-energy technologies should be used in National Parks which are not damaging to the landscape, and more must be done to reduce energy wastage in the UK.”
Volkswind is the company behind proposals to build the turbines in the spectacular countryside south of East Meon in Hampshire, only two miles from the ancient hill fort at Old Winchester Hill, and beside the South Downs Way National Trail.
Jacquetta Fewster continued: “If these giant turbines are built, they will blight the iconic South Downs landscape for miles around. We call on Volkswind to scrap their proposal today.”