Chapter 9
Introduction | Discussion of Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Conclusion | Appendix
Chapter 9: Property, tourism and employment. For owner-occupiers, developments that may reduce the selling price of their houses become a major concern. Etherington fails to distinguish between effects on sales at the period of a windfarm application and effects after construction. This is a vital aspect, since the great majority houses are not for sale in any one year during an application and studies show that no linked affect can be determined long-term. Etherington refers to such a study*, but describes it as ‘this flawed report’**. Likewise, with effects on tourism, he does not (or cannot) quote any definitive study, other than questionnaires with indefinite results*** conducted by tourism agencies themselves. Regarding employment from the development and operation of UK windfarm, Etherington ‘wants to both eat his cake and have it’; he bemoans the fact that there is no UK manufacturer of utility-scale wind turbines and hence few jobs in manufacture, at the same time as arguing that turbines should not be installed anywhere****.
*Page 142, last paragraph; Report by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors with Oxford Brooks University (2007) by Dent P. and Sims S.
****Page 147, last paragraphs argue for combined cycle gas turbine generation rather than wind turbines