of people visiting the area and 15% said What about the visual impact of wind East Riding of Council visitor numbers had increased, whilst turbines? County Hall only 1% thought visitor numbers had A significant proportion of the British decreased as a result of the wind farm ROOS NEWS 3 population finds wind turbines attractive (BWEA 2006). HU17 9BA to look at. Great care is taken in site Q&A Tel: 01482 393939 selection and design to minimise visual impact. At the end of their design life of Fax: 01482 393375 Why build wind farms onshore, when February 2009 25 years – unlike fossil and nuclear Library there are other opportunities such as power generation – wind turbines can offshore wind, tidal or wave power? Queen Street be quickly removed. Withernsea In this section, we provide answers to So far, onshore wind is one of only a few As part of the planning consent for a East Riding of Yorkshire many of the most commonly asked renewable technologies to have become wind farm, a condition or agreement is HU19 2HH questions about wind farms. To lodge economically competitive with normally put in place to cover the costs Tel: 01964 612537 your own questions or comments please conventional supplies. It is commercially of turbine removal and re-instatement Roos Wind Farm update get in touch using the contact details ready to start meeting our targets and of the site. Beverley Library In 2006, RES submitted a planning application to erect 11 turbines, on land around provided in this newsletter or log on to international obligations right now. Champney Road Sunderland Farm, between Roos and Burton Pidsea. The application was the result www.roos-windfarm.co.uk Onshore wind is the most advanced, Beverley of over 4 years of intensive work by RES, during which time the site’s suitability and proven and economic renewable energy Do wind farms cause any noise Eat Riding of Yorkshire detailed environmental aspects had been assessed. technology. Turbines generate electricity problems? HU17 8HE How do wind farms influence tourism? Tel: 01482 392750 for about 85% of the time. The No, this is a common misconception and The East Riding of Yorkshire Council turned down the planning application in The evidence from wind farms operated technology is beautifully simple, and modern wind farms should not cause a December 2007, mainly due to its concerns over visual impacts. provided it is well-maintained, very Library by RES, and others, suggests that the noise nuisance. You can hold a normal St Augustine Gate general public is often interested in reliable. Offshore wind has a part to play conversation directly below the blades. Despite this refusal, RES firmly believes that this is a good site for a wind farm and too, but it’s not a case of one or the Hedon visiting wind farms, particularly in a East Riding of Yorkshire for the past year, we have been working hard to resolve the issues which were holiday area. Where provision is made, other - we will need significant numbers highlighted by the Council in its refusal. As a result of this work, we submitted a Can wind farms affect television HU12 8EX wind farms can prove to be tourist of both onshore and offshore wind new planning application in December 2008. reception? Tel: 01482 897651 attractions that can bring positive farms. financial benefits to local businesses. For While tidal and wave technologies lag There is a chance that, in some isolated Copies of the Environmental Statement example, every year the Scroby Sands many years behind wind in terms of locations, poor reception could be will also be made available at Beverley visitor centre in Great Yarmouth attracts commercial viability, it is expected that further degraded, although our studies and Withernsea Council Customer What’s being proposed? over 35,000 visitors keen to find out have shown that this is very unlikely to both will play their part in the future in Service Centres. In response to the Council’s concerns over the potential visual impact of the wind more about the 30 turbine wind farm achieving a balanced mix of renewable occur. Solutions are generally simple and You can also download a copy of the farm as a whole and its concerns over potential visual impacts on the Constable commissioned in March 2004. energy generation. RES is experienced in identifying and rectifying any problems caused by the non technical summary of the Mausoleum, we have removed two of the turbines from the plans, and are now The visitor centre at RES’s head office, wind farm. Environmental Statement from the Roos proposing to erect 9 turbines, instead of the original 11. Beaufort Court, holds an annual open Wind Farm website: How does the supply of electricity from day for local residents to see inside the www.roos-windfarm.co.uk Each turbine will have three blades and will have a maximum height of 126.5m. wind farms fit in with existing supply turbine and learn about Renewable or request a copy of it from RES’s offices. The ratings of the turbines could be up to 2.3MW each, giving a potential installed Energy. In the first two years this How long do wind farms take to pay and demand? capacity of 20.7MW for the site. Government wind modelling data1 suggests that attracted around 2,000-3,000 visitors on back the energy used to manufacture You may wish to comment on our plans. Seasonally, windy weather tends to the proposed wind farm is likely to generate enough green electricity to power one day, with subsequent visitor days and erect them? If so, please write to the Planning mirror periods of high electricity approximately 11,900 homes, equivalent to 9% of the annual consumption of all restricted due to numbers due to the Officer: consumption and claims that 100% back A wind farm, like the one proposed the houses in East Riding (based on 2001 UK census data). Site specific wind speed size of the site. In addition, on average Hannah Coldwell up is needed are simply not true. Wind here, will typically recoup the energy measurements have been carried out by RES which indicate that this figure could over a year around 2,500 visitors come to used in its manufacture and Principal Development Control Officer farms add to the diversity and security of be even higher in reality. the office on accompanied visits from our energy supply. Undoubtedly, flexible construction, in a period of less than a Strategic Development Control local community groups to schools and year. Over its 25 year life, that means the East Riding of Yorkshire Council plant, such as impounded or pumped The plan (top right) shows updated layout of the proposed 9 turbines and the colleges. wind farm will produce up to 25 times County Hall storage hydro or fossil-based stations, bottom right plan shows the location of the site within East Riding. Independent public attitude surveys are needed to provide balancing. That’s more energy than was needed in its Beverley creation. HU17 9BA were carried out in 1997 and 1998 a service they currently provide, to We are maintaining the same access route (so avoiding the villages) and the same respectively among residents living near You must quote the planning reference complement the relative inflexibility of grid connection route, as these were particular strengths of the project. to the Taff Ely Wind Farm, Mid nuclear which serves the so-called base- number 08/05692/STPLFE in all Glamorgan and near to the Novar Estate load function. Different generation How will the Planning Application be correspondence. Wind Farm, near Alness. The surveys methods complement each other rather dealt with? The Planning Officer will also consult found that in terms of people visiting than compete. It will be dealt with as an entirely new authorities such as Natural , the Why is this a good site for a wind farm? the area, 62% said the Novar Estate planning application by the East Riding Environment Agency and other Council RES has always had absolute confidence that this is an excellent site for a wind wind farm has had no effect and 16% of Yorkshire Council. We have produced departments such as Highways and farm. Finding suitable sites is a complex and time consuming process. The land said visitor numbers had increased, a new and comprehensive Environmental Rights of Way. The Planning Officer’s around Sunderland Farm was identified as a good location for a wind farm in whilst no-one thought visitor numbers Statement, which has been made final report will be presented to the country-wide surveys of potential English wind farm locations carried out by RES. had decreased as a result of the wind available to all consultees and deposited elected members of the East Riding of farm. At Taff Ely, 68% said the wind in the following locations for public Yorkshire Council’s Planning Committee, farm had had no effect on the number viewing: some time in 2009, and the planning RES’s site selection process seeks to identify sites where a good wind resource is application will be decided by vote. balanced with environmental, technical and other constraining factors. Sites are designed to maintain minimum distances from houses, to have good transport access and a suitable connection point to the electricity grid. We seek to ensure that the environmental impacts of the wind farm will be absolutely minimal, and this rules out large areas of the country which are designated for landscape or conservation reasons. Even where sites are not designated, we need to make sure that we won’t be affecting particular species or habitats.

The land around Sunderland Farm is a particularly good site for a wind farm. It is a large area of agricultural land, with relatively few properties around it. For those properties which are closest to the site, we have maintained a minimum separation distance of 850m. There are no nature conservation areas which will be affected, as we are giving the Roos Bog Site of Special Scientific Interest a wide buffer zone. Furthermore, according to the Council’s landscape character assessment, it is within one of the better areas in East Riding in which the landscape could accomodate a wind farm.

Environmental Impact Assessments are a compulsory part of the planning process 1The Department for Business, Environment and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) manages the for projects such as this. They include detailed investigations into the potential NOABL database of average wind speeds for different areas of the UK. This has been used to de- impacts on local people, archaeology, habitats, wildlife and hydrology to name a rive the predicted capacity factor for this site on which these calculations are based. few. The studies are co-ordinated by RES’s in house team of environmental scientists, but the majority are carried out by external consultants with relevant For further information, please contact: www.roos-windfarm.co.uk professional expertise. The whole process is brought together in a very Amy Bambridge is a website dedicated to the Roos Wind Farm proposal where you can read about the project in more detailed Environmental Statement, which the Council will use in its Community Relations detail and look at maps and photomontages. You can also view a summary of the Environmental consultations. A shorter non-technical summary of this is also available. RES UK & Ireland Ltd Statement. We are keen to receive your comments and have provided a short online feedback form where We have given details on the back page of where you can view the full Beaufort Court you can register your views and receive a response. Please keep an eye on the site as it will be updated Environmental Statement and how to get a copy of the non-technical Egg Farm Lane regularly. summary. Kings Langley For those receiving this newsletter by post, we obtained your address through a national post-code database. Hertfordshire WD4 8LR If you do not wish to receive further information from us about this proposal, please write to us and let us know. We now hope that in addressing the concerns raised previously, by reducing For further information on wind power, please visit one of the following sites: Tel: 01923 299328 the number of turbines, this smaller wind farm will be approved by the East email: [email protected] www.bwea.com www.res-group.com www.windpower.dk www.yes2wind.com Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Printed on environmentally friendly paper comprising 25% post-consumer waste, 30% pre-consumer waste and 45% virgin elemental chlorine free fibre Leading by example The role of renewables and Climate Change Matters Roos Wind Farm

RES is one of the world’s leading wind energy from its own wind turbine and solar panels, Tackling climate change requires a wide The UK is currently undergoing a radical change companies and is part of the Sir Robert with cooling and heating from a variety of range of measures. These include reducing in the way it generates electricity. A transition McAlpine Group, a British, family owned techniques, including solar power, borehole energy demand, energy efficiency, recycling, is underway from large centralised conventional construction firm. At the time of writing, RES water extraction and energy crops that are sustainable transport and the use of generators; coal, gas, and nuclear to smaller, has successfully built over 2,700 MW of wind grown on site. renewables to make clean, green electricity. more geographically dispersed renewable power capacity around the world and has generation, such as wind and biomass. RES has been awarded a Governments at all levels are taking action. developed or constructed over 10% of the UK’s Queen’s Award for At a local level East Riding of Yorkshire When RES first started looking at the potential installed wind power capacity. From long term Enterprise in the Council have strong recycling and climate of Roos, the debate over the issue of global involvement in the wind industry, RES has Sustainable Development change programmes both in terms of warming was largely at an academic level until gained a high level of expertise in the technical, category, recognising RES’s providing information and taking action. 1997, when the signing of the ‘Kyoto Protocol’ environmental and financial disciplines essential brought the issue to the forefront of the public ‘comprehensive approach These types of programmes complement the for the development of a successful wind farm. news agenda. to the environmental and generation of renewable energy. RES recognises that renewable energy has to go social impact assessment prior to the Since then there has been significant debate At the heart of the UK Renewable Energy hand-in-hand with improving energy efficiency commencement of every wind farm project’. about climate change among scientists, Strategy, which was subject to a major and reducing energy demand. That is why RES’s politicians and environmentalists and now, in consultation in 2008, is the acknowledgement UK head office is a pioneering example of a To find out more about RES please visit 2009, few people question that climate change that renewable energy resources are a vital ‘carbon neutral’ office, with electricity provided www.res-group.com. is under way and that mankind’s love of fossil part of the government’s strategy in both fuels and the consequential rising of ensuring a secure supply of energy and atmospheric CO2 levels is a significant factor. tackling climate change. The Strategy suggested that the UK target for generating Sir David Attenborough has summed up the global temperatures rise by just 3°C, we could all energy from renewable resources should feelings of many scientists: reach the point of no return. If the ice caps be 15% by 2020. This could require 30-35% “If you take one moment in time, you can’t be melt, sea levels will rise and the lives of billions of all our electricity to be generated by sure what the trend is. Now, when we look at of people will be affected. In these renewables. Currently less than 5% of our the graphs of rising ocean temperatures, rising circumstances the world’s coastline will recede electricity is generated by renewables so to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and so on, substantially and heavily populated areas will meet the 2020 target, the UK’s current wind we know that they are climbing far more be flooded. generation capacity needs to increase by a steeply than can be accounted for by the factor of ten (BERR 2008). Global sea level rise is only one of the impacts natural oscillation of the weather. What people of climate change. In a European context, As the most technically and commercially must do is to change their behaviour and their changing patterns of weather appear to be proven renewable energy generation attitudes. If we do care about our starting to affect the historic timings of the technology, wind turbines have a vital role to grandchildren then we have to do something.” traditional seasons. In turn, this could affect play in progress towards achieving the Even though governments are now enacting wildlife and lead to the loss of some types of Government targets. policies that will change the way we generate plants or animals from certain regions. and use energy, there is plenty of evidence that The proposed wind farm at Roos is one step 2007 2020 more still needs to be done. The US National towards creating a low carbon emission, Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sustainable energy supply. The UK is the (NOAA) analysis of air samples from around the TARGET windiest country in Europe, and in East Riding world indicates that 2005 saw one of the 15% there is an inexhaustible, plentiful supply of RENEWABLES largest increases of CO2 concentrations on 5% wind coming in straight from the sea. This is a record. RENEWABLES valuable resource which can supply a local What will Roos Wind Farm do for our environment and community? Recently, scientists have predicted that, should source of pollution-free electricity.

Our electricity supply needs to diversify, not energy that wind energy will be an important just for environmental reasons, but also to part of the UK’s drive to reduce its CO2 View from the Manor, Roos. Turbine visibility has been digitally enhanced. For illustrative purposes only. ensure security of supply. Our reliance on emissions. imported energy is increasing and a proportion We know that, based on current figures for the of this imported energy comes from less stable different types of electricity generation in the regions. Renewable energy is playing a vital UK, Roos Wind Farm, if in operation last year, role in diversifying our energy supplies and the could have offset approximately 24,000 tonnes proposed Roos Wind Farm will make a of CO2. significant contribution. Direct benefits to the local community will We can be certain that, over the course of its come primarily from a community fund. Funds lifetime, green electricity from wind energy are passed from the income generated by the will offset large amounts of CO2 that would wind farm to an appropriate vehicle such as a have otherwise been produced if that Parish Council or a special trust. These funds electricity had been generated using fossil fuels can then be used by the community on projects like coal and gas. which benefit the community. At Roos it is Wind benefits the environment by reducing proposed to provide a minimum fund of the the demand for other sources of electricity, value £1000 per MW per annum, potentially thereby replacing significant amounts of realising up to £21,000 per annum over the brown energy with green. Wind energy lifetime of the wind farm. predominantly replaces energy generated by RES also has a track record of using local coal and gas fired power stations. The UK’s contractors. This ensures commercial benefits electricity generating mix will change over are realised locally and it would be RES’s time, making it impossible to give a precise intention to continue this policy at Roos. estimate of the savings over the life time of the project, but we can see from the * This is based on a emissions factor of 430g/kWh, which is the government’s commitment to renewable Government’s long term marginal plant figure.