Romney Marsh Wind Farm

[Coast]

The completion of the last of 26 giant turbines at the £60m Walland Marsh wind farm being built by Npower Renewables on Romney Marsh. Operation is due to commence early next year.

Once online, the wind farm, which received planning approval in 2005 after local opposition and a public inquiry, will generate enough electricity to power 33,000 UK homes.

In preparation for the assembly of the 115m-high turbines, the German-made propeller blades had been transported in 78 lorries across Kent from Chatham docks.

[Azores Hi]

I love em, I think they are beautiful! It's been great to see them sprouting up over the past few months.

Having just got back from France I can report that it is thoroughly infested with them, lost count going down the motorway, there are hundreds and hundreds of them.

[Coast]

I love em, I think they are beautiful! It's been great to see them sprouting up over the past few months.

I have to say I agree (and I'm not a NIMBY!) Saw lots of them in Cornwall last week and I find them quite gentle and soothing. Is this a way forward?

I couldn't get over how big the blades were when I stood next to the truck and trailer!

[Greyowl]

The completion of the last of 26 giant turbines at the £60m Walland Marsh wind farm being built by Npower Renewables on Romney Marsh. Operation is due to commence early next year.

Once online, the wind farm, which received planning approval in 2005 after local opposition and a public inquiry, will generate enough electricity to power 33,000 UK homes.

In preparation for the assembly of the 115m-high turbines, the German-made propeller blades had been transported in 78 lorries across Kent from Chatham docks.

You forgot to add a bit about traffic chaos Coast

We have quite a few turbines around my area. Always lots of objections when they are proposed but once they are built the seem to be part of the landscape.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Greyowl

[Nick F]

Good location to catch the wind - near the English Channel coast and flat, always a wind blowing down there.

Think most wind turbines I've seen in one area was in west Texas where turbines sit continously along a ridge that continues for 20-30 odd miles, must have been 100s of them.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I think the "it spoils the scenery" argument can sometimes be a valid one, particularly when turbines are planted in areas of natural scenic beauty (for instance, imagine if we got scores of turbines planted in the Lake District!) The argument is usually dismissed on the grounds that it's NIMBY and is "less important" than protecting the environment (that hateful "X is more important than Y, thus Y shouldn't come into it").

However, in many circumstances turbines do get an undeserved amount of flak, as I don't often see people complaining that "it spoils the scenery" when pylons are implemented, yet pylons have a similar effect. Most locations fall into the category where, in the long run, planting turbines doesn't spoil the scenery at all anyway, despite initial objections. For instance I've seen plenty of them across the flat landscape of East Anglia and haven't thought that any of them looked unsightly- indeed they looked rather like the ones on the above photos.

[Louby]

Big buggers aren't they!

I actually find them quite majestic when they are up and running.