Turbine tower hits the skyline

Dear Sirs,

I love wind turbines, and as a power generation engineer, and a energy
security campaigner, I'm really pleased to see it. BUT why so close to the
road and the houses, it's not about the turbine as such, its just about the
location, you wouldn't put a 20 story block there, so it's a shame the
community didn't get together and plan a better location for it. We need to
stop this "Wind Turbines are ugly/Wind Turbines are Beautiful" Childlike
battle over wind farms and decide as a society, how we want to sit these
gentle giants in our man made landscape. That turbine is a gift to the
community, and in any community lucky enough to have an enterprise or power
company willing to fund such a grand thing, we shouldn't split in to two
fighting groups, but work together to decide where best to put it, and even
which model of turbine to put up. For example, the Enercon turbine company
has a range of turbines that were styled by Sir Norman Foster. With it egg
shaped pod, and super quiet running, I suspect an Enercon turbine would have
been a better choice as far as the community is concerned. To many, a wind
turbine is a thing of beauty, but like any great work of art or
architecture, you don't just 'plonk it anywhere' you design it in to the
landscape. Just a shame a small patch of land wasn't found for it a few
hundred yards away.

Clive, Energy security campaigner-Energy generation for generations to
come.

Government PP S 22 planning Guidance indicates a minimum desirable distance between wind turbines and occupied buildings as fall over distance (i.e. height of turbine to tip of the blade) plus 10%. This is not compulsory however. Government guidelines are led by the wind industry that profit directly from developments and have representatives leading a renewable energy deployment team within the government DBERR (Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) formally the DTI. Health and safety is being sacrificed as a result.
27 years valid and robust research by Lisbon University, Portugal (with contributions from Eastern European universities) shows that inaudible infrasound degenerates human tissue. Increased levels of the same infrasound have been measured 350 metres from four 100 metre high industrial wind turbine generators in Portugal. The strong probability that vibro-acoustic disease will affect nearby residents within that radius and beyond is established, although An actual safe distance has yet to be determined. Nothing the DBERR have commissioned renders that research invalid.
Even so it is hard to imagine how any audible noise calculation could have justified a giant 125 metre wind turbine generator so close to dwellings, closer than anywhere else in the country.
100 yards is truly dangerous. Additional potential problems include blade shear, ice shedding, fire & lightning strike and considerable major blade flicker. A rotor blade recently sheared off a turbine in Sheffield. Friction can cause turbines to catch fire resulting in burning debris being showered around. Fire authorities can only fight fires up to 30metres high. Ice sensors and lightning protection does not give 100% protection against ice shedding or lightning strike. The wind alone can dislodge large ice blocks and giant ice slivers, even when rotors are still.
Turbine brakes can fail allowing rotor blades to clip towers. This results in collapse with turbine parts being catapulted in all directions. Video examples are available on the internet. The Whittlesey turbine nacelle will weigh some 8o tonnes and would fall some 45 metres from the tower, complete with a portion of tower. The rotor blades weigh around 10 to 12 tonnes each. A 50 tonne nacelle from a 100 metre turbine fell in Weatherford Oklahoma waking most residents 2 to 3 kilometres away. A nearby home however could be demolished from vibration alone.
It seems the turbine in question contravenes articles 1 and 8 of the European Court of Human Rights. Residents may be able to claim full compensation for the cost of their homes and associated expenses under European law. Under English Law however, there may be little or nothing that can be done.