WATCH out for the wind turbine bribes! Despairing of winning round public opinion, wind farm companies are now prepared to offer monstrous bribes of money to get their applications accepted. One wind farm company is offering to put £35,000 into the local community ? a bit of an increase, I admit, on the traditional thirty pieces of silver. Do they think that those charged with the protection of our countryside can be so easily bought? And if anyone is tempted to succumb to selling out for money, let me remind them of the consequences. Income in the local economy will fall as council and business rate bands are reduced by residents claiming that their property values have been affected. Jobs dependent on tourism ? and yes, that does include village shops ? will go as visitors decide not to visit an industrialised landscape. Electricity prices in the area will rise as the wind farms operators demand greater subsidies for their inefficient turbines. Planners, landowners who allow these structures on their property, and the wind companies themselves will be caught up in litigation as those residents whose human rights are compromised start to sue. Wind turbines are the greatest single threat to the British landscape. Succumbing to these bribes will cost us all dearly. John Bainbridge Chief Executive Dartmoor Preservation Association Old Duchy Hotel Princetown
