I read this in a recent 'Spectator' article and found it depressing and disappointing. What is the truth of the situation RSPB? I'm totally opposed to wind farms as they are ineffective, costly and damaging to our wild landscapes. Where I live near Corwen we are faced with the threat of 25 turbines, measuring 475 feet in height, at the foothills of the Berwyns and on the edge of an AONB. This is the extract from the magazine: 'The big conservation organisations have been disgracefully silent on the subject, like the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which until last year took generous contributions from the wind industry through a venture called RSPB Energy. Even journalists: at a time when advertising is in short supply, British newspapers have been crammed full of specious but lucrative 'debates' and supplements on renewable energy sponsored by advertising from a cohort of interest groups.'
This is one area where only a representative of the RSPB can answer. What is clear to me whether you agree with wind farms or not (and I am not necessarily a fan) is that the RSPB is limited by its charter as to what facts it is entitled to comment on. I would think it can only legitimately speak on major impacts on birds, which it does and has done successfully. It cannot really comment on effectiveness, cost and landscape issues and if it did so the outcry by various developers, politicians would be considerable.
The RSPB policy on Wind Farms is publicly available on line at:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/windfarms/index.aspx
The Cotswold Water park sightings website
My Flicker page