Berwick wind turbine plan either a blunder or hazard

Jun 1 2009 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

A 110-metre wind turbine is to be erected inside the house of an opposition group chairman – if a new photomontage is to be believed.

The document shows one of Your Energy’s seven proposed structures near Berwick “piercing” the home of Mike Maud, who leads the Moorsyde Action group (MAG), and another of his properties.

Mr Maud, 52, who does freelance charity work, last night spoke of the horrifying impact the turbine would have on himself, his wife Judith, a 43-year-old violin restorer, and his seven year old son Jack. He said: “I must have done something to upset someone.

“It goes right through my young son’s bedroom, that would not be great.

“The other building is my office and my wife’s workshop.”

If the photomontage is accurate is also raises the disastrous prospect of the blades of the three structures colliding as soon as they begin turning.

Mr Maud is not expecting this to happen, or for the installation team to knock on his door at The Old Manse, Ancroft Northmoor, however, as he believes the montage is the latest in a long line of blunders by Your Energy.

The company is currently doing battle with MAG in a public inquiry having appealed against the now defunct Berwick Borough Council’s decision to refuse permission for its Moorsyde scheme last March. In April, The Journal reported how the company had produced amended photomontages, to show the impact of its turbines on the landscape, which have the engines much bigger than in original images – and in some cases totally different locations.