In regard to Coun Richard Brett's "Backing for turbines" (Letters, July 12) , I am writing to reiterate why I am opposed to the Hook Moor Wind Farm.
Coun Brett speaks of : "as many sources of alternative and renewable energy as possible", and then focuses on just wind farms.
His comment about "Government renewable energy targets for Leeds", was actually set by the unelected and unaccountable Y
orkshire Assembly. Leeds has been set a target of 11MW of renewable electricity by 2010, of which 10MW is described as wind. Hardly a spread is it!
I would suggest that Coun Brett should broaden his horizons and look to areas where the Liberal Democrats are elected, such as Otley, and investigate the possibilities of hydro-electric power, using the reservoirs.
Micklefield already produces 2MW of green energy, shortly to become 3MW. That's over 20 per cent of the Leeds target from one village!
Picking convenient off-shore results for the efficiency of wind turbines is lazy at best. I urge readers to look into the returns of the Penistone Wind Farm that has been in place some 15 years.
The Conservative Party is not opposed to Wind Farms, but is opposed to blighting people's lives.
In Europe, turbines have to be built at least two kilometres from any settlement and in Middlesbrough an application was refused for being too close to the motorway and causing a distraction.
There is a place for renewable energy in Leeds, but it should not be so narrow a focus and it should not blight people lives.
Coun Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative Harewood Ward
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