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June 26th 2008  

            SEA contacts the Head of the Great Yarmouth Tourist Board

Jonathan contacted the Head of Tourism for Great Yarmouth with regard to any possible impact on tourism caused by the Scroby Sands offshore wind farm sited east of the town - The following are his anecdotal  comments -

               " Generally the feeling seems to be that the wind farm makes a positive contribution to the skyline off Great Yarmouth. Visitors seem to find the offshore wind farm fascinating , I understand that the Scroby Sands Information Centre , sited on the edge of the beach  to the north of Britannia Pier, sees a constant flow of visitors wishing to learn more about the wind farm and about wind energy. "                                           

              " I have had reports ( verbal)  from traders that some visitors have come to Great Yarmouth just to see the offshore wind farm."

              " Photographers also seem to like the wind farm, the changing skies and light conditions seem to make the wind turbines constantly change."

               " We have just produced a TV advert ( which breaks on 27th June for five weeks) promoting the resort, the advert includes images of the offshore wind farm."

               " A wind turbine also appears as part of the skyline branding of the resort on the headed paper of our public / private sector tourism partnership."

May 8th 2008

SEA marks its third anniversary !

Three years ago on this date SEA was founded by three people in a meeting in Llandudno. We felt strongly that the proposed Gwynt-Y-Mor offshore wind farm needed our support. Since that day we have achieved much, not just with this application but with other wind farms too ! Many thanks must go to all of those that have played a part in our campaigning

April 16th 2008

Marine Reserves workshop in Llandudno

This event was organised  by The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and was  designed to set the criterion for the sitting of Highly protected Marine Reserves around the Welsh coast - see latest news on the home page. One of the greatest threats to the oceans is that of man-made climate change and the subsequent warming of the sea. 

April 5th 2008

SEA attend Welsh Assembly Climate Community event in Llandudno

SEA activists were present at this climate event organised by the Welsh Assembly Government - see latest news on the home page.

January 4th 2008

SEA activists make their voices heard at Conwy Council planning meeting

Supporters of the proposed Gwynt-Y-Mor wind farm application and SEA activists, together, made their presence felt at Conwy Councils planning meeting for the offshore wind  farm project. A six foot hours glass with the words " TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE" and six large placards with supportive comments, collected from local people in Llandudno, were displayed at the entrance, along with banners and other placards saying "BRING IT ON".  The meeting lasted almost three hours and though opinion was divided, a  proposal  for the application to go to a public enquiry was approved. While the outcome is disappointing ( it will mean further delays) SEA are committed to fighting  for the project until consent is finally given - watch this space... Many thanks to all those that gave their time on the day !

December 9th 2007

Huge expansion for wind turbines

There could be more than two offshore wind turbines per mile of UK coastline under plans set out by ministers.

Business Secretary John Hutton say he" wants to open up British seas to allow enough new turbines - up to 7000 - to power all UK homes by 2020."

He acknowledged "it is going to change our coastline but said the issue of climate change was not going away."

The thrust of the idea was backed by Tory Alan Duncan: We're an island nation, there's a lot of wind around."

November 17th 2007

Experts warn of "abrupt" warming.

A UN panel has agreed a landmark report on climate change, and says the world must act hastily to prevent the worst predicted effects coming to pass.

After arduous talks in Valencia, Spain, scientists agreed a document they hope will shape debate on the next phase of the fight against climate change.

It declared the fact of global warming "unequivocal" , and said it may bring "abrupt and irreversible" impacts.

Among their conclusions are that Carbon Dioxide emissions are rising faster than they were a decade ago

October 24th/25th

SEA back in Llandudno !

SEA activists braved the cold for a further two days campaigning and public engagement in Llandudno. Again the response was overwhelming in support of the project !

October  3rd/ 4th

SEA Activists take to the streets of Llandudno to engage the public.

Supporters from SEA were busy over two days campaigning in Llandudno and giving local people and visitors the opportunity to say "YES" to the proposed Gwynt-y-Mor offshore wind farm. We found that when given accurate and factually correct information ( something that some nimby groups don't always present) the vast majority of the public are fully supportive of the project and certainly not what the group opposing the scheme would have you believe ! Many thanks to those who took part.

September 18th 2007

Consent given to the Lindhurst wind farm application !!!

Activists from SEA attended the Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority meeting at Kelham Hall, Newark. There were arguments initially against the project from a noisy minority of the Councillors who quoted the usual nimby fairy tales but others spoke very clearly and passionately in support. The vote in the end......8 for and just 3 against ! Many thanks must go the Chief Planning Officer, Claire Pendle who gave her recommendation for the scheme and to all the councillors that had the vision and confidence to say yes ! This is the first wind farm in Nottinghamshire and an important first step for a sustainable energy future in the county ! Many, many thanks of course must go to everyone that over the last year gave so much time and energy to the Lindhurst campaign and to those 3000 plus members of the public that completed a support letter - A fantastic day for SEA and for Nottinghamshire.......now for Gwynt-y-Mor

March 23rd / 25th 2007

PRO WIND GROUP SKILL SHARE AT CAT - March 23rd/25th

Activists from pro wind groups from across the country came together for a weekend of networking and skill sharing at the Centre for Alternative Technology ( CAT) - Europe's leading eco centre. This was organised by SEA. Over the two days there were presentations / workshops on the proposed Gwynt-Y-Mor wind farm, starting a pro wind campaign group from scratch, working with the media, the Scroby sands offshore wind farm and Decentralised Energy ( DE) On the Sunday the group went to the nearby Carno wind farm for a guided tour which was amazing ! Everybody was in agreement that it was a productive and fun weekend ! It is intended to run pro wind skill share next year.

March 3rd 2007

SEA CAMPAIGN ON THE STREETS OF MANSFIELD - MARCH 3rd

Local campaigners from SEA were once again out on the streets of Mansfield, giving the public the opportunity to give their backing to Lindhurst. The support and interest was very encouraging as always and we managed to collect a further 220 letters of support, urging Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority to give the wind farm application the green light. The date for the committee meeting to decide on the application has been moved from the end of March to May. The campaign goes on !

March 2nd 2007

INTERVIEWS GIVEN ON THREE RADIO STATIONS - NOTTS MARCH 2nd

Jonathan gave interviews on Radio Nottingham, Radio Trent and Mansfield103, these followed on from the press releases issued earlier in the week

February 28th 2007

SEA PRESS RELEASE IN NOTTINGHAM PAPER.

The Nottingham Evening Post printed the recent press release issued by SEA regarding the planned campaign work in Mansfield supporting the Lindhurst wind farm application.

February 26th 2007

PRESS RELEASES ISSUED

SEA issue a number of press releases to the media in Mansfield, advising them of our intentions of campaigning in Mansfield this Saturday.

February 17th 2007

SEA HIT THE STREETS OF NEWARK !

Activists for SEA, once again were busy on the streets of Newark, providing an opportunity for the public to give their backing to proposed Lindhurst wind farm, near Mansfield, Notts. Despite the cold weather, we managed to collect further 230 letters in support, which will be submitted to the Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority next week. Many thanks to all those who gave their time and energy on the day, we have a further day planned for Saturday March 3rd in Mansfield. A nice surprise for us was to meet Claire Pendle ( Planning Officer for the proposed Lindhurst wind farm) who was passing by and we were able to give her an account of the overwhelming support we have  found  form the public for the application.

February  16th 2007

LEWIS WIND FARM GIVEN GREEN LIGHT !

The Western Isles Council has given it's approval, by 18 votes to 8, for the proposed 181 turbine wind farm on the Island, this will be the biggest onshore wind farm in Europe, if it is further approved by the Scottish Executive ! SEA believes this is excellent news and the building of this wind farm is a clear demonstration that wind power can and must play a vital part in the mix for our energy needs.

February 14th 2007

SEA  letter published in the Pioneer Newspaper in North Wales, this was in response to a letter printed from the group opposing the wind farm in last weeks edition, that claimed that David Attenborough was "plainly wrong about climate change" and implied that global warming, wasn't really happening ! The SEA letter also summarised the findings of the recently published IPCC report.

February 6th 2007

SEA issue press releases to the media in Wales regarding the release of the IPCC report and the proposed Gwynt-Y-Mor offshore wind farm. SEA have also written to the DTI and Welsh Assembly Government urging them to back the proposal, following the release of the IPCC report and its warning of the impact of global warming. A summary of the report can be seen  at http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf  .  We believe the report adds to the already compelling evidence that climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is happening and urgent action must be taken now to address it. That includes changing the way we generate the electricity we all use in out daily lives - moving away from fossil fuels ands towards renewable forms of energy. Wind power must play a vital role in the energy mix, along with other renewables and energy conservation. Consent for the Gwynt-Y-Mor and Lindhurst wind farms are steps towards a sustainable energy future and steps we simply must take, if we are serious about addressing climate change.

February 5th 2007

The Wirral Globe has been running a number of articles on apparent opposition to the proposed  Gwynt-Y-Mor wind farm in the area based on a small but vociferous minority - There was a comment from a local councillor, and a response to that from SEA. The paper also ran a poll with the vast majority ( over 80%) saying that they full support the proposal, only 17% thought they were a "blot on the landscape" . There were also a number of very positive testimonials in support ! The poll result, of the majority being in support of wind power has been the case across the UK.

February 5th 2007

SEA issued press releases to all of the media in Notts re the recent IPCC Report and the proposed Lindhurst wind farm application, as a result two interviews were given on Radio Nottingham and Mansfield 103. The Radio Nottingham interview was broadcast live and included a spokesperson for the group opposing the wind farm, who gave the usual " blot on the landscape and noise" arguments -not very convincing really !

January 20th 2007

Southwell visited by SEA !

The town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire was visited b SEA, this was a first for us and we were encouraged by the response. Many thanks to Bryan and his team !

January 13th 2007

SEA activists out on the streets of Nottingham

A team from SEA were once again campaigning on the streets of Nottingham giving  local people the opportunity to give their support for the proposed Lindhurst wind farm, as in the past there was a lot of support !

 December 18th 2006

"Green light" given to two offshore wind farms in the South of England.

The Government announced this  week that they were giving the" green light" to two major offshore wind farms in the south of England, the Thames Array, which will be the worlds largest offshore wind farm and the Thanet wind farm. This really is excellent news and clearly shows that wind power can play an important part in delivering clean renewable energy.

The Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) approved the plans to erect 341 wind turbines off the coast of south east England. The London Array will be the biggest of its kind  in the world, 12 miles off the coast between Margate in Kent and Clacton in Essex. The DTI also approved the second development at Thanet on the Thames Estuary - 100 turbines sited 7 miles off north Foreland on the Kent coast. The combined output of the schemes could be up to 1.3 GW - enough to meet the demands of a third of the homes in greater London.

December 9th 2006

SEA out in the Streets of Mansfield...

SEA were out again, this time in Mansfield, giving the public the opportunity the show their support for the proposed Lindhurst wind farm. Once again the results were very positive ! The letters will be presented to the Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority early in the New Year. We are keeping quiet as to the number of letters collected so far, to keep the exact number from the nimbys..... Many thanks to Bryan and the team for all of their hard work on the day - We are planning further campaign stalls in the New Year...

December 2nd 2006

SEA out in the streets on Nottingham...

Activists from SEA were out campaigning again in Nottinghamshire for the proposed Lindhurst wind farm application, this time in Nottingham. Despite the city being full of busy Christmas shoppers we had another very successful day, as with campaigning in Newark and Mansfield recently, we found that the vast majority of people we spoke to were fully of support of the proposal. The letters collected will be submitted to the planning authority soon ! The "young greens" at Nottingham Uni were also busy collecting letters last week - many thanks to them for their valuable support ! 

November 22nd 2006

The ASA Council uphold complaints against a second nimby group !

After  a formal complaint made against the group Save Our Unspoilt Landscape ( SOUL) opposing a wind farm application in Northumbria, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have upheld all eight of the complaints made against the materials and photomontage produced by the group. For the full ASA ruling go the site www.asa.org.uk - go to adjudications and November 22nd 2006.

November 16th 2006

Newark and Sherwood local councillors e-mailed re the Lindhurst application

November 15th 2006

745 Letters of support submitted for  the Lindhurst Wind farm application

All of the letters collected through October in Nottinghamshire ( a fantastic 745 !) have been sent by recorded delivery to Claire Pendal, the Principle Planning Officer for Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority. We feel sure this will make a positive impression and clearly illustrate  the overwhelming support of the public in Nottinghamshire for the proposed Lindhurst wind farm. All of the letters have been photocopied and will be sent to Mansfield District Planning Authority at a later date..... Many thanks to all those who worked so hard in collecting the letters !

November 8th 2006

SEA had two letters published in the Pioneer

Response from Betty Williams MP and David Jones MP Re ASA Ruling.

Betty Williams  said " she is grateful for the information which is clearly material to a fair consideration of representations made during consultation".

November 7th 2006

Lindhurst wind farm and the Mod !

The MoD have dropped their objection to the proposed Lindhurst wind farm application which is good news as this could have been a possible stumbling block.

November 6th 2006

SEA issues press advisories re The Stern Report and Climate Rally

November 4th 2006

March Against Climate Change Rally - London November 4th 2006

SEA Activists  from Wales and England joined 22,500 other climate campaigners as they marched from Cavendish Square to Trafalgar Square to call for urgent action on climate change. The Campaign against Climate Change rally called on the government to lead talks on a deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A host of stars including comedian Rob Newman, singer K.T. Tunstall, actress Miranda Richardson, writer George Monbiot and rock bands Razor light and Seize The Day appeared at the event.

          Other environmental groups that took part included GREENPEACE, Friends of the Earth and People and Planet.

November 3rd 2006

Radio interview on Champion FM - Jonathan gave another radio interview re Gwynt-Y-Mor and the ASA adjudication.

November 2nd 2006

ASA SEA Press Release

The press release  we issued, re the ASA adjudication, made it to a number of papers in North Wales, including the Daily Post, North Wales Weekly News and The Pioneer, which  ran it on the front page ! SOS Chairperson  ( Lawson-) claimed that he will ignore the ruling !

ASA Adjudication

Copies of the ASA adjudication along with an SEA covering letter  were posted by recorded delivery to the following people - Denise Idris-Jones AM, Alan Pugh AM, Betty Williams MP, David Jones MP, Clerks for Bay Of Colwyn Council, Llandudno Town Council, Conwy County Borough Council, Sarah Wood ( Countryside Council for Wales) Peter Detheridge ( Head of Planning - Conwy County Borough Council) Robert Lilly (Energy Group : Licensing and Consent Unit- DTI), Lynn Griffiths ( Innovation and Sustainable Growth Division - Welsh Assembly Government) and Jonathan Evens MEP

Media coverage - Notts

SEA were in the Mansfield Chad (again), this week with a positive write-up, from an earlier press release and photograph of our first campaign stall in Newark, in October. We also made it in the Nottingham Evening Post.

November 1st 2006

Complaints upheld against Anti wind farm group - Save Our Scenery !!!

The advertising Standards Authority ( ASA) this week announced it is upholding all six of the complaints made against wind farm opposition group, Save Our Scenery (SOS) and materials they have been using to oppose the proposed Gwynt-Y-Mor wind farm.

The formal complaint was submitted to the ASA - the independent body which polices the rules laid down in the advertising codes - in April of this year by SEA

One of the complaints made was against a full page advert placed by SOS in a north Wales weekly newspaper, featuring a photomontage put together by the group to support their view of what the wind farm would look like. 

An expert for the ASA said of the photomontage, "the wind turbines had been crudely added in an effort to represent what they could look like and appeared too close to the shore." He added, "the photograph was in panoramic format, which did not recreate the field of view given by the human eye" and, he considered that the photograph fell short of what the wind farm would look like to a viewer from the location shown."

The ASA considered that, "because the turbines appeared too densely spread and too close to the shore, the photograph exaggerated the likely effect of the proposed wind farm on the horizon and was not an accurate representation of what the wind farm would look like when built." They concluded that "the advert was therefore misleading and told SOS not to use the photograph again and to ensure they used in future were an accurate representation of what they intended to depict."

SOS have also been told not to use a number of claims they made in a leaflet, produced by the group. SOS claimed to have evidence to substantiate all of the claims made in the leaflet but failed to send any such evidence when requested to do so by the ASA. The ASA, reminded SOS that they should hold evidence to substantiate all claims before publishing and that evidence should be sent to the ASA upon request.

We are obviously delighted by the conclusions reached by the ASA council, by upholding the complaints against SOS, the ASA have underlined the importance of substantiated, factual information being made available to the public, so that the people are able to make truly informed decisions about important projects such as Gwynt-Y-Mor.

SEA believes  that the ASA ruling must, surely bring into question the validity of the SOS's argument against the proposed wind farm and submissions put forward by SOS to the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) who will be determining the main wind farm consent application. As such we believe that any petitions submitted to the DTI by SOS should be deemed as inadmissible, since the signatories were clearly mislead.

It is hoped that  this ruling by the ASA council will make other groups opposed to wind farm applications think very carefully before making claims when  there is no evidence to support them.

The full ASA adjudication can be read at www.asa.org.uk -  then go to the archive pages.

30th October 2006

Jonathan gave interviews on two radio stations re Gwynt-Y-Mor and Lindhurst, he also received a call from BBC Radio 4 asking for an interview re the ASA adjudication on the nimby group SOS.

28th October 2006

SEA hit the streets of Mansfield collecting further support for Lindhurst !

This was the third campaign stall in as many weeks in Nottinghamshire and another opportunity for the public to show their support for the proposed Lindhurst wind farm application. Many thanks to Bryan for organising this( the new SEA coordinator for the East Midlands), it was very successful as we collected 100 plus letters, backing the project. This takes the running total to 700 letters, urging the Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority  to give it the "green light". The decision for this could be made as soon as January 2008. Lets make Lindhurst a reality !

23rd October 2006

New Regional Coordinator appointed for the East Midlands - Bryan Norris

21st October 2006

Lindhurst wind farm campaign stall in Newark - The return !

Two weeks after the initial visit, SEA  returned to collect some more letters backing the proposed Lindhurst wind farm - Once again the response  from the people of Newark was fantastic  and we collected 316 further letters taking the total to over 620. These will be sent to the local planning authority in the very near future - It is intended to run one last campaign stall in the area, this time in Mansfield. Anyone wishing to help with this, please contact Bryan b.norris2@ntlworld.com or phone 07877 905188.

7th October 2006

Lindhurst wind farm Campaign stall in Newark - Notts

Sea activists and local people hit the streets of Newark on Saturday Oct 7th to give the people in the town the opportunity to give backing for the project - We collected over 300 letters of support - these will be submitted to the Newark and Sherwood  Planning Authority later this month - There was a great deal of interest and enthusiasm from the general public. We used this campaigning opportunity to use our new 10ft x 2 ft banner, which reads "Sustainable Energy Alliance - Action Energy Change." There is a planned return visit to Newark on Saturday Oct 21st, to collect further letters, anyone wishing to help please contact Jonathan - Tel 01766 830444 mobile 07894 686571 E-mail jon@leafandstream.fsnet.co.uk

4th October 2006

New Regional Coordinator for the West Midlands appointed - Cathy Mackle

23rd August 2006

On this day a few lucky SEA activists were invited by Npower renewables to visit their offshore wind farm " North Hoyle". Though the weather was poor (fog and drizzle) nothing could dampen our spirits as we boarded the catamaran the "Fast Cat".

The wind farm is sited just 4.5 miles north of Rhyl and we soon found ourselves approaching the turbines out of the mist, it was amazing  to see the blades turning slowly and they looked very serene and quite stunning and though we sailed directly beneath them they were very quiet - certainly not what the windy nimbys would have you believe! We spent a hour or so sailing  between the turbines and took many photos before heading back to the harbour. It was an amazing experience and one I know that we shall all long remember.

(click on each picture to enlarge it)

20th August 2006

SEA give backing to the Lindhurst wind farm near Mansfield

SEA have given their full backing to the proposed Lindhurst wind farm (near Mansfield, Notts) This wind farm, if built will number just 5 turbines and produce enough clean energy to meet the demands of 4700 to 5100 homes each year. Group coordinator, Jonathan Lincoln, who grew up in the town but now lives in North Wales said "I think this is a very exciting opportunity for Mansfield and will certainly put it on the map!" He recently went to visit the farmer where the wind farm will be sited and was given a tour across the fields in his 4x4. SEA have lobbied the local MPs and planning authorities and have also issued a press advisory to the local media, they have also been networking with the group in the town who are supporting the application- Planning permission will be decided by the local planning authority and not the DTI - Watch this space.  A local person backing the project has set  up a BBC website, anyone wishing to give a supportive comment can do so by going to www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/g1930.

For further information about the Lindhurst project please go to www.npower-renewables.com/lindhurst

SEA have also been busy lobbying MP's in Nottinghamshire and local Councillors and have received some good media attention, including radio interviews.

Blidworth Parish Council have recently stated that they have "No objection" to the application, this will be taken into account by Newark and Sherwood Planning Authority make a decision.

24 June, 2006

On Saturday June 24th activists from SEA climbed Snowdon to display a banner on the summit, which read "Yes To Gwynt-Y-Mor".  Despite poor weather and thick fog, the team made it to the top around midday. We felt that it was important to make a statement of support for the proposed off shore wind farm and what better place than the highest point in Wales and England ! It was a fantastic experience, many thanks to those that took part. There has been good media interest in the activity.

06 June, 2006

Activists from SEA recently visited some wind turbines in the hills behind the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) near Machynlleth. It was a fantastic experience ! There was very little noise even standing directly beneath a wind turbine ( not what the windy nimbys would have you believe !) Wind farms Rock ! A new pro wind campaign group Wind On Wight ( on the Isle of white) has been formed to give support for a proposed wind farm there - www.windonwight.org. Friends of Aire and Calder Turbines are campaigning to support a wind farm near them - check out their site www.facts-online.org.uk SEA in New York are campaigning for a proposed offshore wind farm off long Island, they have a new page for "testimonials" ( supportive quotes) Check it out their site www.windworks4LI.com and for supportive quotes ! SEA have made a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority ( ASA) regarding much of the SOS materials and their hugely misleading photomontage !

31 May, 2006

NEW T-SHIRT DESIGN!!

The message couldn't be simpler: ignore the hot air generated by those boring, backwards nimbys and remember that wind power is the future!

Show your support with these great new T-SHIRT designs which can be found on our MERCHANDISE page!

19 April, 2006

More reports and press releases can be found on Gerry Wolf and Marianne Jones' excellent site, From Greenhouse to Green House.

9 March, 2006

People all over the UK are responding to the threats of climate change. Check out the Friends of the Aire & Calder Turbines (FACTS) group and the great work they're doing in Yorkshire!

16 March, 2006

New T-SHIRT designs can be found on our MERCHANDISE page!

23 February, 2006

Some of our press releases, published letters and information about SEA in the media can now be found on the new PRESS CUTTINGS page.

19 February, 2006

We have NEW MERCHANDISE FOR SALE! As well as the T-SHIRTS, there are NEW BADGES and a cool FRIENDSHIP BAND! Pictures and prices can be found HERE.

12 February, 2006

SEA in the last week received coverage / gave interviews with BBC Wales Today, HTV, S4C, BBC Radio Wales, BBC online and the Daily Post.

To see more pictures from the day, go to our PICTURES page!

Activists from SEA and supporters of the proposed Gwynt-Y-Mor offshore wind farm showed their support outside Conwy County Borough Councils summit meeting last Thursday, urging the council to back the project.

Though we are disappointed that the council have decided to oppose the wind farm proposal, we welcome their call for a Public Enquiry and the fight to support the project will go on !