Wind Turbine Further Information

0901055

Digital Development

The Old School, East Baldwin, Isle of Man. IM4 5EP. Tel/Fax. (01624) 851482 Email [email protected]

Further Information - Planning application section 16.

The site at Summer Hill Road is jointly owned by 6 people. These six together form the Native Oak Group. The Native Oak Group use the site for allotments, to propagate native trees for use by Manx residents, and the remainder of the site (the majority) is left as natural wetland. Ms. Amanda Griffin will act as the primary contact within the Native Oak Group. The field adjoining Summer Hill Road is used for the allotments and as the nursery for the propagation of native trees by the Native Oak Group. The allotments include a poly-tunnel. Much of the field is rough grass.

The six joint owners of the site are: Mr. Andrew J. Millichap, Ms. Amanda-Jane Griffin, Miss Elizabeth Pippa Creasey, Mr. Mark Johnson, Mr. Peter Buttery, Mr. Phil Roriston.

The Native Oak Group has won an award from the HSBC Environmental awards 2009, to enable it to put up a 1KW wind turbine, battery shed and solar panels for use as a charging point for electrical equipment (e.g., grass mower etc.) and the powering of propagators in the poly tunnel.

The proposed wind turbine is a FuturEnergy 1KW turbine mounted on a 6m tall tower comprising 50mm scaffold pipe and supported by 4 guy wires. The system will charge batteries and it is proposed that the batteries are housed in a standard 10 foot by 12 foot wooden shed for weather protection. Other electrical equipment associated with the installation (charge controllers, inverter etc.) will also be housed in the shed along with equipment, for example electric grass cutter. The shed will be oriented south so that solar Photovoltaic panels can be mounted on the roof of the shed. Up to 4 panels may be mounted on the shed roof, although only two may be fitted initially.

A buried cable will be used to connect the inverter output from the battery shed to the poly tunnel where the propagators will be housed. The cable will terminate in a weatherproof electrical cabinet in the poly tunnel.

Wind Turbine Details (see picture below)

FuturEnergy 1KW wind turbine, with 1.8m diameter rotor comprised of 5 blades.

The turbine will be mounted on a 6m 'scaffold pole' tower and will be stabilized in place by the use of 4 steel wire rope guy wires attached to ground anchors.

Survival wind speed - 50 m/sec.

The noise produced by this wind turbine is:

• Noise: 35dB @ 5m/s @ 5m behind rotor
• Noise: 54dB @ 7m/s @ 5m behind rotor

The prevailing wind direction is from Summer Hill Road to the proposed wind turbine, therefore any turbine noise is reduced from a road user's perspective.

The photograph below is taken from the turbine field gate entrance looking towards the proposed position of the wind turbine, tower and battery shed. A number of recently planted trees can be seen at the bottom of the photograph. These trees will form a sweep running along the field boundary between Summer Hill Road and the turbine field. {{image:310490}}

The photograph below shows the view towards the proposed turbine, tower and battery shed, looking from Summer Hill Road, with the grass bank between the turbine and the road, and the willows at the edge of the wetland area in the background.

22 JUN 2009