Members of the House of Lords who have spoken out against wind farms

This page is in progress, so apologies if there are any errors at this stage, corrections welcomed.


Lord Carlile

Liberal Democrat Peer
A Deputy High Court judge and QC, Lord Carlile was MP for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997 and remains passionate about his former constituency. He has pledged his full support to campaigners who oppose controversial proposals to cover the uplands of Montgomeryshire with wind farms that will then be connected to the National Grid via a 20-acre substation near either Abermule or Cefn Coch, and high powered cables carried by 26-metre and 46-metre-high pylons.

Lord Reay
Conservative Peer.
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) Bill, Moved By Lord Reay
Hansardhttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
(Scroll down to 10.17 to find Bill)

Quote:  "There are many reasons to be opposed to the Government's policy towards wind farms and I agree with most of them. But this Bill only concerns itself with one disadvantage of onshore wind turbines-their propensity for making life a misery for those unlucky enough to find themselves forced to live in their shadow. 

There is now a well-established body of evidence, collected worldwide, that demonstrates the harmful effect of turbines for at least some of those who live close to them. Complaints are made continuously to the environmental health officers of local authorities. In February 2009 the Renewable Energy Foundation produced a roll, obtained under freedom of information requests, of 27 out of 133 wind farms in the United Kingdom which had given rise to noise complaints. This number subsequently rose to 46 out of 217 wind farms by April 210, with 285 complaints having been recorded in total."

Lord Donaghue
Labour Peer
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
Quote:  " My Lords, I support the Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Reay, and I do so as a Labour person. Not everyone on this side takes that view, but I do because it is the poorer parts of our community that are paying the main price for this bizarre programme. As has been pointed out, they are paying often without knowing, because the extra taxes that come through the subsidies are often not revealed. I also resent the fact that it involves a huge transfer of wealth from the less well-off to my good friends who own great estates in Scotland and make millions of pounds out of it. I am very happy for them but unhappy for the poorer parts of our community who have to pay for it. I hope that my party will look more closely at this situation in the future than it has in the past."
He also said that he supports the Bill  "as an environmentalist. It is bizarre that the environmental warriors support this programme when what it does to the visual environment, as has been pointed out, is quite appalling. I object to the fact that they are described as "wind farms". Farms and the farming community contribute enormously to our visual environment but these objects do quite the opposite-they scar it. We need a new collective name and I think "wind blight" is one that could be used in the future because environmentally they are a menace."
Finally he said "I considered tabling an amendment suggesting that 100 miles might be an appropriate distance between the wind blight and houses."
Lord Williams of Elvel Labour Peer
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm

Quote:"We might be able to put up with these problems of noise and unsightliness if these machines were efficient and cost effective, but they are neither. The average wind turbine will probably produce something just over 20 per cent of its installed capacity in a given year. It is enormously costly. When we had the big freeze last winter, there was a high-pressure system over the whole of the United Kingdom. Wind farms in the UK produced at 3 per cent of their installed capacity, just when the electricity was needed. That really shows how dreadfully inefficient these things are."
Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne Liberal Democrat
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
She raises the point that noise that is not heard by the ear normally can still cause pain. Quote: "The fact that one-third of noble Lords should by rights perhaps be seeking some hearing enhancement from technical devices would not mean that the noble Lords in question could not feel pain despite the fact that they could not hear the noise in a normal sense."
Baroness O'Cathain
Conservative Peer
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
Quote: "Surely the time has now come for us to reconsider whether we need to increase relentlessly and in an unthinking way the despoliation of our countryside, establishing wind farms and wind turbines in order to produce inefficient energy on a cost-benefit analysis, when we should be asking and undertaking a total reassessment of the impact of so-called climate change.
Lord Willoughby de Broke
UKIP Peer
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
Quote:" The Bill would not be needed were it not for our foolish commitment to sign up to the EU requirements. Our renewables obligation requires us to produce 20 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2020. I hope that the whole House, including the Minister in her reply, will bear that in mind. That requirement means that one particular energy generator, wind, is guaranteed a market share and a price-which is underwritten by the taxpayer, regardless of how competitive that energy source is.
Lord Greaves
Liberal Democrat Peer
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
Quote: "I am one of those people who believe that wind farms constitute a blind alley, are not the answer and, to cite the words of the noble Lord, Lord Reay, are a scourge on our countryside. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Williams of Elvel, that there is no point in wrecking our landscape in order to save the planet"
Lord Marlesford
Conservative Peer
From Wind Turbines (Minimum distance from residential properties) BIll, Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110610-0001.htm
Quote: "I am afraid that wind farms are largely political tokenism,, and very expensive political tokenism. One of the disappointing aspects of this Government is how they have yielded to tokenism in their policies. To some extent-one does not know how much-I suppose that this reflects the costs of coalition politics."

This list is in progress.