Change in Access to Common Hill SS-174

Just as Brian and myself were finishing up our activation of Common Hill a LandRover drew up. I had a chat with driver who was intrigued to know what was happening with a fishing rod in the wind and rain. Having explained about SOTA he went to tell me about all that’s happening on this site.

Major construction works start from Monday 22nd October 2007 with the erection of 20x 1.3MW wind turbines. That means that from then until work finishes the area comes under Health and Safety at Work construction site rules. He stressed that the next 6 months will see 30ton dump trucks, 150ton cranes and many other very heavy vehicles driving up and down the road all day as the new access roads and foundations are built. Major construction is scheduled for 6 months with a further 6 months whilst the turbines are installed.

Now the area will not be off-limits but he welcomed the chance for me to post a notice to warn potential activators of the possible dangers that they may expose themselves to during this period. It may be well worth postponing visiting here until the work has finished.

He told me the site owner is happy for people to walk the land and to use the access road to gain the summit but only on foot or bicycle. Definitely no cars or motor bikes!

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

Yet another environmental disaster, blot on the landscape and more noise pollution in the name of so called “Green” energy. It will be interesting in 25 years when these things are rotten and dangerous to see if they are as quick to take them down as they are to put them up.

Steve GW7AAV

In reply to GW7AAV:
Great! Another iconoclast!

I completely agree, Steve…now heads down for incoming fire!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:

I completely agree, Steve…now heads down for incoming fire!

Bang bang! Yes, get these things out to sea. I don’t mind them myself, but I would ask why an island nation does not look to the sea for its first source of power, either in it or on it. Leave our beautiful countryside alone!

73, Gerald

I’ve been having a scour of the web to see what is proposed for Common Hill. It looks possibly like the plan is really for Nutberry Hill SS-156 and that construction traffic will be using the access road to the windfarm on Common Hill.

Have a look at http://wind4energy.co.uk/cms/uploaded_files/pdf/NTS_Nutberry.pdf for more information.

I’m not that bothered by windfarms. Having sat amongst 26 old noisy turbines today it wasn’t that bad. It was noisy right by a turbine but the wind noise masked the turbine noise when you moved away. The noise came from the wind shedding off the blades. The only other windfarm I’ve been near is Bowbeat which butts onto Blackhope Scar. I was in the mist most of that day so didn’t see anything really. Though it did sound like one turbine had noisy bearings. Perhaps as I haven’t been up these hills before the developments I don’t realise what’s been lost.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to G4OIG:

In reply to G8ADD:

Bang bang! Yes, get these things out to sea.

73, Gerald

Do you refer to the turbines Gerald, or Steve and Brian :slight_smile:

73 Mike GW0DSP

In reply to 2E0HJD:

In reply to GW0DSP:
I wonder which has the most wind. :slight_smile:
Mick

After a Balti and a few Marston’s Pedigrees, definately me!

I object to wind farms because they are ugly and noisy, but mostly because I have picked up the corpses of migrating warblers near them: the poor little beggars migrate for thousands of miles from Africa only to get the chop at the last minute from a gratuitiously ugly, noisy and unnecessary blot on the landscape. Mind you, if they were necessary, I would rather have them than a Severn Barrage!

73

Brian G8ADD