Sir,

I notice that Penally Community Council are to be offered 'bribes' by wind turbine developers in the hopes of overcoming any local objections to the siting of a wind turbine in East Williamson.

Up until now, the only people benefiting from such developments were land owners and the developers themselves.

Those who might be swayed by such promises should consider the following:

We are all paying more for our electricity to subsidise these machines, so they are bribing us with our own money.

They will not keep the lights on, as they only work in strong winds, produce very little in light winds and have to be shut down in severe gales. Most on-shore wind turbines produce less than 30 per cent of their rated capacity. They do not work on cold, still days, when demand is high.

They will not even save the planet. Fossil fuel power plants have to be kept in a state of readiness to take over when the wind drops. They operate less efficiently when running below full capacity. So, overall there is likely to be little or no reduction in greenhouse gases resulting from wind farms.

Unfortunately, many people do not understand these things and are being misled by wind turbine developers, the green lobby and the Lib Dems. We need some independent review of the performance to date of existing wind farms and their overall costs and benefits (if any).

R. Duffield,

St. Florence.