Colchester and North East Essex Friends of the Earth

Colchester council opposition Labour group councillors Dave Harris and Tina Dopson join members of Colchester FoE on the Town Hall steps to oppose Conservative waste plans.

A collection of photos from our CFoE trip to see the Hockley Farm windfarm at Bradwell. Click through for full size.

1. Hildegard with Duncan feeding the sheep at the organic and biodynamic Lauriston Farm at Goldhanger. The farmer, Spencer Christy, had invited us to visit on our way round the estuary to the windfarm at Bradwell via Maldon. The Blackwater estuary can just be seen over the seawall, where the sheep are allowed to go over on to the edge of the marshes.
2. The gate of Hockley Farm is on the left and two of the ten wind turbines can be seen along the lane which ends a little further on by some farm buildings. We had been along and seen a cluster of five turbines on the left of the lane and a cluster of five on the right in the fields. We opened the car windows and could hear a gentle whirring sound.
3. Duncan, Richard, Hildegard and Paula having tea at Hockley Farm, Bradwell.


Eleanor took the photo of Duncan, Richard, Hildegard and Paula with the lovely cake and tea which Teresa Fowler, the farmer's wife at Hockley Farm, had offered us because she was so pleased with CFoE support at the two public inquiries when the Inspectors had both approved the windfarm for ten turbines.

Centrally-orchestrated national anti-windfarm groups BATTLE and SIEGE had set up big public meetings and put posters opposing the windfarm and managed to dislodge the first Inspector's approval. The windfarm was held up for some years when the first approval was dislodged.

Because CFoE was involved with the proposals for Hockley Farm windfarm, with the anti-windfarm group STAPLE at the Earls Hall windfarm of five turbines near St Osyth and the nine turbines proposed for the Middlewick windfarm southeast of Southminster, we found that it was the same group of people setting up big public meetings, putting up hundreds of posters and the same barrister and witnesses appearing for the different groups for all three proposed windfarms.

As our group has had three windfarms proposed in our group's area from about seven years ago, we had spent a lot of time looking at the plans and walking round the sites before we amazingly unanimously supported them all. A fourth windfarm was more recently proposed southwest of the Middlewick windfarm for seven turbines at Turncole Farm near Burnham, which we visited and also support that one.

4. Closer view of two of the turbines from the lane at Hockley Farm.
5. Hildegard and Paula with Teresa Fowler's lovely dog after our delicious home-made cake and tea. Paula is wearing one of the FoE 2011 EarthMovers Award tshirts. We won the award at the national FoE conference for our support for three successful windfarms in our area. Paula had given a presentation at conference to warn other FoE groups that it is not necessarily local people who are setting up anti-windfarm public meetings, setting up local anti-windfarm groups and spending a lot of money including putting up posters all over the area.