01273 302170 www.staubynsschoolbrighton.co.uk - Viva Lewes

Photo by Flo Flowers
Glyndebourne’s wind turbine has generated reams of
newspaper coverage, and had hacks scrambling for
opera jokes. The Telegraph said: “It may add a surreal
edge to performances of Don Quixote,” while The
Mail referred to “disharmony in the wind section”.
And when the turbine got the final go-ahead, a
Guardian hack used this classic one-liner: “A battle
was won at Glyndebourne yesterday, and not one
involving Tatiana’s tortured emotions as she rejects
Eugene Onegin in Tchaikovsky’s 1879 opera, which
was performed there last night.”
Even before Glyndebourne submitted its plans for
a 70-metre wind turbine on Jan 18th, 2007, public
opinion was ‘strongly polarised’ along the following
lines: it’ll be big and noisy, but useful; it’ll spoil
a nice area, but no-one lives there anyway; it might
not produce much energy, but that’s Glyndebourne’s
problem. Even the British Gliding Association got
involved in the row, saying the “turbine will create a
significant hazard to gliders in the area.” The council
dismissed this concern: “Gliders that are low should
be able to use the ‘see and avoid’ principle…”
Many other groups objected to the original application,
and Council planning officers recommended
refusal, saying the benefits “fail to sufficiently
outweigh the disbenefits”. However, in July 2007 the
planning committee voted for the application, 6-4.
The following March saw a public inquiry, held at
the White Hart Hotel, after which Hazel Blears gave
final permission, with a few conditions. Glyndebourne
had to take additional measures to cut its
www.vivaLewes.CoM
Wind
turbine
glyndebourne in a spin
bRiCKs and MoRTaR
carbon footprint, like encouraging coach travel from
Lewes and banning guests from arriving by helicopter.
They also had to set up a weather mast on the
site to gather 12 months of data on wind speed.
The data suggested the turbine would produce a
third less power than expected. Protestors argued
that “common sense should now prevail – the
turbine should not be built.” By that point, though,
Lewes District Council was powerless to stop it.
The public inquiry report had specifically said that,
however disappointing wind levels turned out to be,
the council was not allowed to withdraw permission
on efficiency grounds.
On 11 October 2011, a five-vehicle convoy brought
the £1.5m turbine, in pieces, to the site on Mill
Plain, where it was built over the next three days.
It was switched on at the start of December, and
a fairly redundant ‘launch’ ceremony was held on
Jan 20th. There were cheers, boos, and some comic
relief as David Attenborough, facing strong winds,
battled with a pair of gigantic scissors, taking twelve
snips to cut a huge piece of green ribbon.
Attenborough called the turbine ‘beautiful’. That
may be a little strong, but it does have a certain
elegance, and doesn’t seem too noisy. When I visited,
on a cold and reasonably windy afternoon, it was
clearly audible from 100 metres or so, but, as the
Guardian might put it, nowhere near as loud as
Tosca’s scream as she throws herself from the battlements
of Castel Sant’Angelo.
Steve Ramsey
69