Kessingland’s two wind turbines have divided the community since they were erected in early 2011, with some residents welcoming the move to sustainable energy while others expressed concern over the impact on house prices and potential disturbance to daily life.
One of the biggest concerns was with the flickering shadows cast by the turbine blades, which can cause an unpleasant strobing effect in homes nearby. Now EcoGen, who operate the two turbines, have apologised to local residents and fitted a special device which will reduce disturbances.
The device monitors light and shuts down the turbines if shadows are cast over homes, which will eliminate the flickering shadows and ensure that villagers can peacefully coexist with the new turbines.
Despite the concerns of some villagers, the turbines are proving to be a boom for the local tourism industry, providing new landmarks which are hugely popular with visitors.
The two turbines, which were built by Triodos Renewables and operated by EcoGen and Lowestoft company SLP, generate enough power for 3,000 homes, and now fulfil nearly all of Kessingland’s energy needs, placing our village at the forefront of the green revolution.
March 15th, 2012 at 11:54 am
Hugely popular? Turbines can be quite fun to visit/occassionally see from a distance, but it is a completely different thing to live or stay near them. I was quite a fan until recently, thinking that all the fuss was basic NIMBYISM. Now I have experienced camping near them I have a whole different perspective
It is true to say that these things may affect some people more than others, but my family found the noise and the visual annoyance of the movement (when they do move that is) to be awful. My children in particular were troubled by the noise.
At least we can choose where we camp, and it wont be near these turbines again (sorry Kessingland), but I feel sorry for anyone who actually has these things built near them – and loads of landowners seem to be applying for permission to erect them now.
May 17th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
The tiny minority of complainers (less than 1% of the village) are nothing but elderly NIMBY ‘hyacinth bucket’ types I am afraid.
They provide zero evidence for any of their ridiculous claims about disturbances or health impacts (Windmills cause migraines! Hilarious). However if they have any peer reviewed scientific papers to cite, they are more than welcome to; although to date they have been whining for years and have not yet been able to provide a scrap of evidence.
These ignorant, frightened of change, out of touch NIMBY’s need to realise they are out of touch with the vast majority of people, standing in the way of progress to a clean sustainable future for us and our children, have no valid complaints, and are hypocrites.
Pylons and mobile phone masts are much more obtrusive and ugly, yet they don’t raise a squeak from the complainers, funny that. These anti green energy pressure groups are usually funded by dangerous fossil fuel corporations, and I urge the local group spewing anti green energy propaganda to divulge their funding sources immediately.
June 7th, 2012 at 10:30 am
My husband and I took our grandson to the Camping & Caravan Club Site at Kessingland in August 2011. We’d been there before so knew it was a good site for children (& oldies)!
As we travelled along the A12 we spotted two huge wind turbines on the horizon, and as we drew closer realised they were HUGE. We commented on them – “Gosh, they are big etc etc”.
As we drove into the C&C Club site we realised that it was situated right between the monster turbines. OK, they are fascinating so it appeared to be no seemed no problem to us until after we had set up our caravan and put the awning up and sat down for a nice quiet cuppa. Quiet? No, it wasn’t! Was that an aeroplane passing overhead? It didn’t seem to go away! Are we near an airport? No….hummm…what was that noise? We suddenly realised that it was the whooshing noise coming from the blades of the turbines. We found the noise very invasive to say the least.
Next morning we were woken up by a flashing of light…what the devil was causing that?
We went outside and saw that it was caused by the flicker caused by the sun rays as the blades turned. This lasted for about 20 minutes and it was very disturbing with nowhere to hid from this effect. I am VERY glad that none of our party suffered from epilepsy!!
We will NEVER go back to that caravan site again. We have that choice but realise that the people who live in Kessingland near these ghastly monsters do not have that choice.
Diane & Robert Burrows Southminster Essex
June 12th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
As an objector to this unsuitable development from day 1 the only satisfaction gained is that all the predictions have been proved correct. The argument has never been against renewable energy, as the appallingly ignorant Jim Capes seems to suggest, nor are the objectors funded, unlike many supporters of such projects. What matters is that not only are people are having their lives ruined, but they are victims of what can only be described as tyranny.
August 1st, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Jim Capes tirade is just vulgar and probably an agent provocateur, not a resident. The noise from the 240ft beasts is one thing, like perpetual jumbo jets high altitude flying past, but the flicker caused when the sun is aligned with our house is terrible, make you blink and feel disoriented.
August 6th, 2012 at 8:44 am
i dont live in kessingland but i own a caravan at kessingland beach holiday park, and i am here very often. the turbines dont bother me. i dont see what people dont like about them. yes they might make flickery shaddows but they have put in devices to stop these. it gives kessingland a modern touch. to be honest, this is what the village needs, a modern touch. anyway, people dont want a pollutes enviroment. wind power is much better for the planet than nuclear power
August 12th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
Went to visit the Out of Africa park/zoo today and was impressed by the wind turbine in the carparking area. I was looking it up on the internet to see what size it was and found this forum and alot of hype over trying to decommission them. How very disappointing!
Unless we want to live by candle light again we need to accept that life moves on, evolves and changes and wind turbines are just one of lifes changes. Let us not forget that the Norfolk Broads were created by peat digging so that we could keep warm. Our environment is completely man made.
All you have to do is look around, all of the old mills on the Norfolk/Suffolk landscape were once part of aggrigultural practises and are now seen as a feature and heritage. Wind turbines will be exactly the same.
As for complaining about propoerty prices, noise and shadows, I cannot see how it can devalue your property or be of a nuisance since on a really windy day today i complained about the noise and realised it was actually a plane going past and I couldn’t hear the turbine at all! Living near a wind farm myself, I should know.
As a closing statement…..energy needs to come from somewhere….would you rather have another nuclear power plant?
Please look up book on the internet: Without Hot air…this describes that with all the available renewables/nucelear etc…that we can possibly fit into UK territory, the UK cannot be fully sustainable. SO what are we going to do if we are cut off from energy imports?