Brutish behaviour blamed for bad wind power image

Some wind power companies in England have been accused of being 'brutish' and 'riding roughshod' over local communities in pursuit of new developments.


The ‘brutish behaviour’ description was used by Jonathon Porritt, former director of Friends of the Earth and co-founder of Forum for the Future, when he addressed a major industry conference in Edinburgh yesterday (March 27).

After observing that Scotland had no fewer than 800 community groups involved in renewable energy developments, Mr Porritt said such a ‘refreshing’ fact was unfortunately not true of England.

“This is due to the brutish behaviour of some large wind developers in England, who have ridden roughshod over local communities,” he told the Scottish Renewables annual conference. “They’re now changing their ways but it’s too late.”

The renowned writer, campaigner and commentator said that, as a result of such behaviour, public opinion on wind power was currently not in a good place.

“It’s important to understand what happens if you take consumers for granted,” he said, adding that he believed in wind power and felt the positives surrounding the sector had not been properly presented or understood.

Edie Staff

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