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.

Gavin Forkan questioned about REI's proposed 14 turbine development at Lisnaharney Road, even though his documentation showed 16 and he acknowledges that they are already in negotiations for phase 2 and confirms the names of landowners involved.  Worth a watch.

Thank you, to a concerned resident for the footage.

A group of families in a north Cork village are suing a wind farm operator in a landmark case, claiming the huge turbines are adversely affecting their health.

The seven families from Banteer claim they have been severely impacted, particularly through noise pollution, since the turbines began operating in Nov 2011. 

If the action is successful, it is expected to lead to a number of others on similar grounds. Already, cases are being prepared by householders in Wexford and Roscommon. 
read the rest of the story here;
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/families-bid-to-sue-wind-farm-operator-225867.html

Like many others, do you have concerns about the negative impact of windfarms in your area, in particular if you are from the Magherafelt area, you need to attend:

Turbine Information Evening
Magherafelt District Council 

50 Ballyronan Road, 
Magherafelt, BT45 6EN  

Mon 8th April 8:00pm

Directions below:

Some solid objective objections all on one page. Very useful information.

The Mynydd Llansadwrn Action Group  have put forward evidence showing that wind power is an unreliable and intermittent source of energy that cannot provide firm predictable generating capacity; it is extremely expensive compared to almost every other energy source, and, it has limited value in reducing carbon dioxide emissions because of the need for spinning reserve backup from fossil-fuelled power plants. Wind farms are deeply unpopular with a growing number of people who object to the visual intrusion, the noise and light pollution and the damage to the environment and wildlife. We are paying a high cost—socially, environmentally and economically—for poor results.
Click here to read the full report.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/9889882/Wind-farms-will-create-more-carbon-dioxide-say-scientists.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/3867232/Promoters-overstated-the-environmental-benefit-of-wind-farms.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/9653429/Wind-farm-noise-does-harm-sleep-and-health-say-scientists.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/9887574/Landowners-1-billion-wind-farm-boom.html

Please read the above linked reports in the Telegraph, and share with those who might be interested.

A small selection of the speakers from both the guests and the floor at the recent Windwatch Symposium.

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