The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Delph Wind Farm Proposal - Adjacent to Willow Tree Fen and Pinchbeck Fen Slipe nature reserves

A planning application has been submitted for nine wind turbines on a site directly adjacent to two Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves, Willow Tree Fen and Pinchbeck Fen Slipe. Four of the turbines are proposed approximately 200m from the boundary of Willow Tree Fen. The turbines would be 126m tall to the blade tip (to put that into perspective the Boston Stump is 83m high).

Given the proximity to two nature reserves the LWT has very serious concerns regarding the proposed development and will be submitting an objection to the planning application.

For more information from the LWT see - http://lincstrust.org.uk/conservation/article.php?id=47

For the data on the birds on site see - http://www.sholland.gov.uk/PublishedRec ... 3_6EIA.pdf (See pages 301 onwards and in particular pages 345).

For the planning applications and other comments see - http://www.sholland.gov.uk/doitonline/p ... 14-0110-13

To make a comment click here - http://www.sholland.gov.uk/doitonline/p ... 14-0110-13

Or email Richard Fidler at rfidler@sholland.gov.uk

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Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/

See this link for the true horror of windfarms and bird deaths, or google windbyte report
http;//www.windbyte.co/index.html

regards John

There's no doubt that wind turbines are responsible for a few deaths but look here:

http://www.sibleyguides.com/conservatio ... mortality/

Now I don't hear too many out there campaigning against windows and cats! And all of these pale into insignificance against habitat destruction

John

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Lincolnshire Birds https://www.flickr.com/photos/120340949 ... 8078912016
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Contact: recorder_north@lincsbirdclub.co.uk

Problem is that the only research points to the losses of large raptors + vulures which are day flying and corpses (if not hiden quickly) can be found afterwards. How can one count, for example, the tens of thousands of migrating Robins & Golcrests being sliced up at night as they pass through the windfarm off Skegness each autumn. Looking how the turbines are arranged, and bearing in mind the height of most migrants, I doubt that 90% make it through.

Enjoy this years White-tailed Sea Eagle at Frampton, for I fear this species will be all but wiped out in Norther Europe within ten years.

Alan

Research also shows that migrating birds are considerably higher than the reach of the turbine blades
Feet Metres
Songbirds 500-6,000 150-2,000
Shorebirds 1,000-13,000 300-4,000
Waterfowl 200-4,000 60-1,200
Raptors 700-4,000 200-1,200
75% of songbirds migrate between 500 and 2,000 feet (150- 600 m)

Ian Newton's excellent Bird Migration gives a much fuller picture

John

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Lincolnshire Birds https://www.flickr.com/photos/120340949 ... 8078912016
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Contact: recorder_north@lincsbirdclub.co.uk

Does anyone know if the offshore turbines have lights on them? if they do they could possibly attract migrant birds to them at night.
Geoff

Hi Geoff,

Yes, they will presumably have a red warning light on as all tall structures do to avoid planes flying into them. They should also have navigation lights on to warn marine craft. I know of at least one occasion on Sheringham Shoal OWS where a PTV hit one of the towers because the lighting had failed.

Not sure how attractive the lights will be to birds though.

James

Alan, there have been a number of instances where turbines have been denied/ moved because of proximity to birds of conservation concern. If you truly intend to resist you will need to fight the developers at their own game and provide an alternative environmental impact assessment to the planners about the impact of the proposed turbines. That will involve collecting better data than the developers over a minimum12 month period using standard survey techniques to look at impacts on breeding, wintering and migratory birds. Maybe LWT will be doing this anyway. Depending on the size of the area you could be looking at 300 or more hours of observation in 4 hour stints.

With the breeding season starting soon you should be starting in the next month. If you need any help with monitoring techniques there are a number of us who could give guidance.

Phil, I don't know who corroborates the bird surveyors results ? I met a young lad at this location a year or so ago who was doing a bird survey and clearly he did not have much experience; I assume it was for this site. The environmental bird survey surprisingly picked up a 'single Barn Owl on a few visits' - I say surprisingly as there is an active nest site within 10 metres (yes ten!) of the wind farm site boundary, and at least 5 more pairs within 1km of the site.

Re height of migrants, yes I accept that most will fly higher than the turbine blades, but a sustantial proportion may be at a lower lever nearing the end of a migration flight. I have caught (accidentally) Linnet, Starling and Song Thrush whilst wader netting at night at only 3 - 4 metres off the water. Thats only in an area of 20 metres x 3 metres on odd occasions of a hour or so, so one can only imagine the death toll with 50+ turbines with a 100x greater area at a greater height and 365 days a year

Whilst I accept that renewables may offer clean energy, they cannot provide sufficient energy on their own, and we should not forget the fact that they also come with an environmental cost.

Alan

As I understand it the planning of surveys is done in conjunction with Natural England but no one corroborates the bird surveyors results unless opponents of the scheme do their own surveys. It is quite possible that a young and inexperienced surveyor might miss some key species and individual birds. All you can do is make that as clear as possible to the planning authority/natural england, preferably with backing from your own data and your own greater local experience that the developers data is misleading. At best you might get it thrown out at worst maybe you can get them to repeat their own surveys giving you more time to do your own and delaying consideration of the issue for at least another year.

Good luck with your fight. There is a much greater chance of influencing a land based scheme where you have strong local knowledge than offshore developments where there are much greater unknowns and much more money at stake.

Not Lincs, but shows the dangers of wind turbines, A White-throated Needletail has today been killed by a wind turbine in Harris, Outer Hebrides. see Birdforum.net

I wondered how long it would take to get on here!

I come into contact with a few people who make comments upon planning applications and some of the stories of the type of EIA that are submitted are astounding but in most cases if there is no viable alternative report / information they have to accept what is submitted; there are some very good surveyors and firms involved but there are also a lot of firms jumping on the bandwagon, cash for energy, who are willing to use anyone who claims to be able to do a bird survey, produce a report and never get challenged. I was told of one breeding bird survey conducted by a certain firm on the Humber that in 6 visits failed to prove breeding by a single species in an area inundated with food carrying Mipits, Skylarks, and with 6 Marsh Harrier nests!!!! In another instance the breedign bird survey was undertaken in September and October -- It really does make you shudder but unless someone keeps on top of all these bits of paper half the time no-one knows what has gone on until its too late.

and the latest link on the swift -- I understand it has been on the telly and radio today
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-h ... s-23082846

Very well put GPC

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Regards
Dean Eades



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