GLYNDEBOURNE’S WIND TURBINE COULD SPOIL TRANQUILLITY OF THE SOUTH DOWNS
The Campaign to Protect Rural England is due to give evidence at the Glyndebourne Wind Turbine Planning Inquiry on the possible threat to tranquillity on Wednesday 4 March. Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE, which is a member of the South Downs Environmental Protection Consortium (SDEPC) said:
‘This huge turbine would be clearly visible from a great tract of the countryside, including from the South Downs Way national trail. Its rotating, spiky blades would disrupt the magnificence of the broad horizon of the downs and distract anyone seeking to find inspiration from the harmonious landscape of this special part of England.’
There is growing consensus that the experience of tranquillity is beneficial to human health and well-being. Increasingly, this experience is threatened and diminished by poorly conceived and located development. The urgent need to combat climate change, which will include expansion of renewable sources of energy, should not be at the expense of the very landscapes we seeking to protect from climate change.
‘It is a sad irony that Glyndebourne, which is rightly renowned for creating one kind of beauty, should care little that their scheme could deprive so many people of another precious experience,’ Tom Oliver continued. ‘Our tranquillity maps show what is at stake, how tranquillity is put at risk by this proposal across extensive parts of the countryside, including many tranquil areas outside the designated National Park. Both residents and the huge number of visitors to the South Downs stand to lose if this intrusive structure is imposed on the landscape,’ Tom Oliver concluded.
David Murray, Countryside Campaigner for the Ramblers' Association, a member of the SDEPC, agreed: ‘CPRE’s findings highlight the inappropriateness of the scale and location of this turbine in a tranquil landscape; a rare commodity in the South East of England. The SDEPC supports renewable energy as one way to decrease our impact on the planet. However, this can be achieved without threatening our most valued landscapes, for example, by offshore energy generation and small scale renewable energy technologies.’
Jacquetta Fewster, Director of the South Downs Society, which is another member of the SDEPC, said: ‘People come to the South Downs to get away from the rush and noise of modern life. They want to take in unspoilt views, and listen to the wind in the grass. The challenge is to build renewable energy technology which doesn’t destroy the tranquillity and beauty we all cherish so much.’