Professor Sir David Bellamy is the latest celebrity to give his backing to protesters campaigning against a controversial wind farm on the outskirts of Burnham-On-Sea.
The environmentalist, who is a staunch opponent of wind turbines, met members of the ‘kNOll to Wind Farm’ action group in Brent Knoll on Tuesday afternoon (May 23rd) and voiced his fears about the proposed scheme.
After a photo call outside Brent Knoll Parish Hall, he was taken onto Brent Marsh to see the fields where developer Ecotricity wants to build five turbines.
Speaking to Burnham-On-Sea.com, Mr Bellamy said: “It’s a plain daft idea. Completely horrendous. It would totally destroy a wonderful area. Why built a wind farm here in such a beautiful location?”
“It doesn’t make any sense from an environmental point of view. Wind farms like the one proposed here don’t have any impact on slowing down global warming. I’m totally against them.”
His comments came just days after another well-known person, actor John Cleese, also gave his backing to the protesters.
Andrew Manning, spokesman for kNOll to Wind Farm, (pictured right with David) said: “It’s very pleasing to have David here today.”
“A good number of people have come along to hear what he has to say.”
“Our campaign is gathering momentum and more people seem to be joining us.”
The protesters were delighted last week when town councillors in Burnham voted to object against the application – but the all-important vote from district planners has yet to come.
Ecotricity’s planning application is currently with Sedgemoor District Council and is scheduled to be decided by its Development Control Committee on August 8th.
The developer has the backing of some local people and an environmental group in Burnham-On-Sea called FORCE (Families For Clean Energy) is backing the proposed building of the wind turbines, saying it makes sense for the environment.
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