A large deputation from the Windwatch Umbrella Group from across the province met with members of the Environment Committee in Stormont on Thursday 23rd May.
Representatives from all the major parties were present and congratulated the lobbiests on the quality of the presentation and the amount of factual information concerning the adverse effects of wind turbines and wind farms.
The politicians were generally unaware of the adverse effects associated with wind turbines as the wind industry fails to make anyone aware of the hidden truths when submitting applications for major projects.
The hidden cost of the wind industry: the division of families and strong tight knit communities, the quality of life in the rural countryside is gone forever, the devaluation of properties close to wind farms and wind turbines, the damage to the well being of people forced to live beside these monstrosities  the environmental damage of the countryside, most of which are Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the negative visual impact and damage to wildlife and birds, the significant economic loss of tourism and loss of jobs as a result.
Of particular concern was the suggestion that current wind farms could be operating illegally under European Legislation and that individual land owners maybe liable to litigation in the future with regards to claims from nearby property owners.
The Windwatch Umbrella Group are also meeting with members of the Health Committee in Stormont to highlight the adverse effects of wind turbines and wind farms and the growing amount of worldwide medical evidence to support these claims is substantial.

Further information is available on our website: www.windwatch.co.uk

It is time for us to all open our eyes!  If you live in a rural upland area, take 5 minutes and walk out into your garden- look around you at you surrounding area- chances are you will see a wind farm or single turbine not that far from you. This is just a sad fact now of living in what was an unspoiled environment. 
Views on turbines are truly split, however one thing is for sure- more and more of these are planned for your surrounding areas, homes, schools and communities.
The efficiency of wind energy is in no doubt, if you wish to learn more about this have a look at the Variable Pitch website- their performance is very poor, however what they are very efficient at, is making their owners money- this again can be seen on that same website. Without subsidies would this story still be the same?
Herein lies the issue with Wind Energy- as our government has committed to an arguably insignificant reduction in CO2 by 2020, individuals and organisations out there have seen a fantastic opportunity to make a lot of money under the guise of "green" energy- and have been given the go-ahead to destroy our upland environments.  Destroy the environment to apparently save the environment!
To give you an idea of how scandalous this business is, we had been told that the developers and the land owners actually started a number of the wildfires, in order to wipe out any potential threat to their pre-required Environmental Impact Assessment before applying for planning permission.  We had put this down to conspiracy and a possible coincidence, that was until this week when we seen an unprecedented number of gorse fires in NI.  We know for a fact that more than one of these fires are in areas where there are currently talks about developing  wind farms. (By the way, we are also paying for the fire service to go out and deal with these)
Make no mistake, this is a dirty business, one where there is no interest in the Environment or looking after our renewable energy needs, Green Energy more like Greed Energy!
Our Journalist friends need to start digging under the skin of this industry, the good decent hardworking people in our community are again paying for this to happen, we are being told that it is for the better of us all.  Simply put - They are not benefiting our Environment, and we are not willing to accept them being imposed on us any longer.

We have decided to put together a page especially with resources to share with others so that you can study and use what information you find useful to your own particular needs.
There are many reports and findings covering a variety of Wind Turbine issues.
We will add to this page as we get more content, if you have any information or links that you can share please use the contact page on our site.
Click here to see the new page.

Current renewable energy policies are no more than an unnecessarily costly means of achieving given emissions reductions. 
The idea, now embraced by our Government, that officially-created higher energy costs open up exciting new prospects for growth and jobs, is an illusion which this paper dispels effectively.

Please read 
click here to download

Thanks to a local supporter for the attached report into the Performance (or lack off Performance) of Wind Farms in the United Kingdom and Denmark.
Very interesting reading!

"These findings have important implications for policy towards wind generation in the UK. First,
they suggest that the subsidy regime is extremely generous if investment in new wind farms is profitable despite the decline in performance due to age and over time. Second, meeting
the UK Government’s targets for wind generation will require a much higher level of wind capacity – and, thus, capital investment – than current projections imply. Third, the structure
of contracts offered to wind generators under the proposed reform of the electricity market should be modified since few wind farms will operate for more than 12–15 years."
Click here to download document

See attached link below and/or click on the image to the left for 'B9 Energy' Wind Farms featured on Omagh District Council Webpage.

B9 Energy originally build Bessy Bell Co. Tyrone (now looking at phase 3 development) and has been responsible for several other Windfarms in the Omagh area. This company is planning to build yet another Windfarm on Slievard and Rylagh, in a designated area of outstanding natural beauty. 

"Omagh, County Tyrone at the Foothills of the Sperrins" 

How this promotes culture, leisure and tourism is beyond me...

http://www.omagh.gov.uk/culture_leisure_and_tourism/things_to_do/activities/other_activities/item.php?id=244

P.S. take note of the misleading information provided...

e.g. "Stimulate UK manufacturing industry to take a lead in the growing world-wide markets for renewable energy." 

Turbines are manufactured in Germany and imported here.

e.g. "Wind turbines are a temporary change to the landscape. A well-sited wind farm will not cause any disturbance." 

There is nothing temporary about it...tonnes of steel, concrete, miles of  heavy duty roads and irreversible damage to blanket bogs, flora/fauna, bats, birds, etc, etc. 

Also fails to specify what 'well sited' means...many of these same wind farms have been associated with sleep disturbance.

Tens of thousands of abandoned wind turbines now litter American landscape
The whole wind energy mess just illustrates how the American people have been played by their elected officials who bought into the "global warming" hysteria that spawned the push for wind energy in the first place. And now that the renewable energy tax subsidies are gradually coming to an end in some places, the true financial and economic viability, or lack of wind energy, is on display for the world to see.

In the UK, the energy industry admitted as long ago as 2008 that wind turbines are idle up to 30% of the time because of the unreliability of the wind. A report from the British Renewable Energy Foundation at the time describes the economically disastrous wind turbine industry.

Learn more: 
http://www.naturalnews.com/034234_wind_turbines_abandoned.html#ixzz2J1d3KCHn
http://toryaardvark.com/2011/11/17/14000-abandoned-wind-turbines-in-the-usa/
http://vitalsignsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/new-symbol-of-epa-wind-farm-graveyards.html

UK and Irish ministers will today sign an agreement that could see some of the world's largest wind turbines built across the Irish midlands.

Stretching more than 600 feet (180 metres) in the air, the towers are set to generate energy for millions of UK homes from 2017.

The companies involved say the Irish power is a cheaper form of renewable than UK offshore wind.

But environmentalists have described the scheme as "crazy".

They say it risks damaging Ireland's landscape.

Under the plan, a number of companies are seeking to erect hundreds of wind turbines across the boggy midlands of Ireland. The power generated would be transferred to the UK via undersea cables that would join the grid at two points in Wales.

Full story:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21147279

What do you think?