Heritage Colliding With Rude Power

The use of wind turbines, a modern, technologically advanced version of the windmill used so commonly on farms and villages in the 18th and 19th Century to produce power, seemed like a brilliant idea whose time had come. Environmentalists fell all over themselves in their enthusiasm at this re-discovered source of energy used in the past to such good effect. For milling grain and wood products, for irrigation and a range of other industrial purposes throughout Europe.

What was a painting of Holland without the depiction of a windmill? Now giant wind turbines with immense blades have proliferated on landscapes everywhere, from Europe to Asia, North America to the Middle East, generating power with their awesome ability to harness the wind. The initial euphoria has however, given way to disappointment; that the power cannot be stored for later use, and that the wind is not always amenable in its appearance to be harnessed.

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Moreover, people have gotten over their original feelings of awe at the other-wordly appearance of the giant turbines marching across the landscape. Suddenly, what once appeared to be a wonder, and a partial response to the prayers of governments and environmentalists to find new sources of renewable energy, to leave the burning of fossil fuels behind, has become a blot on the landscape. People living nearby these giant windmills cite noise pollution and spoiled aesthetics.

The bucolic beauty of nature has been despoiled by the presence of giant revolving arms in their now-macabre dance with the wind. Birds die in their thousands, hitting the revolving arms. People claim that their health has been negatively impacted by the proximity of the windmills, the noise drives them insane, the vision of the revolving arms disturbing to their sense of peace and security. They have become a liability, not a brilliant solution as once heralded.

But while people complain, it's mostly farmers, or country dwellers with little political clout. The manufacturers of wind turbines do have clout. Governments desperately seeking alternate sources of power to combat ongoing carbon dioxide polluting the atmosphere, are reluctant to admit that the wind turbines are adding to their woes, not detracting from them.

And, as yet another indication that the moneyed and the aristocratic do have the ear of the courts, a couple in northern France has successfully managed to challenge turbine operator LA Compagnie du Vent (The Wind Company), subsidiary of energy giant GDF Suez in a court of law. "Every day we have to suffer the visual and noise pollution. I can see the turbines from everywhere in the castle, from every room", said Erik Wallecan.

Castle? Yes, indeed. The couple, Erik and Ingrid Wallecan bought their dream home, the Chateau de Flers in the Pas-de-Calais area in 1996, and it took them a decade to restore the building with its 42 acres of land to its former, sumptuous state. And they continued, to transform it into a guest house. And a decade later they were horrified to discover the view of their magnificent property was blighted.

Chatea de Flers, Pas-de-Calais/Flickr

"The first evening when we arrived in the chateau (from Anvers in Belgium) after their construction, it was a firework display; we wondered where these lights were coming from. We were not even aware that these (wind) projects existed", complained Ingrid Wallecan. For three of those monstrous turbines are now visible looking across the park from the bay windows in the grand salon of the chateau.

Judges were sympathetic to their blight-plight. Ruling from Montpellier that the turbines' location caused the "total disfigurement of a bucolic and rustic landscape". Furthermore, apart from "spoiling the view", the incessant "groaning and whistling", along with the "unsightliness of white and red flashing lights", impelled the judges to find for the complainants.

The Wallecans were granted a handsome $53,000 in damages, and the company ordered to remove the wind farm or face a fine of $700 daily for each of the turbines. An appeal is pending. "People are often too scared to take action and suffer in silence", said Philippe Bodereau, the Wallecans' lawyer.

"Today we are saying no: justice has been done and this shows all those who suffer wind farms with a sense of powerlessness that the fight is not in vain, that one can have one's life respected - one's right to peace."

All it takes is indignation, perseverance, and money, lots of it.

Chateau de Flers, Pas-de-Calais, France -- www.leuropevueduciel.com