Gone with the wind: turbine plan scrapped

Artist's impression of the proposed wind turbine on Hackney Marshes

The axeing of plans to build a wind turbine on Hackney Marshes because of the difficult financial climate has been met with mixed response.

According to Hackney Council, the giant fan planned for East Marsh would have created enough green energy to power the borough’s main council buildings and nearly all of its street lighting when combined with that of an existing turbine in Waltham Forest – which was scrapped in June because of difficulties meeting safety regulations.

A public consultation held between October and December last year had found 87 per cent approval for the Hackney Marshes scheme among the 700 residents who contributed.

Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe said: “We’re disappointed that the current economic situation has resulted in the banks making it more difficult for electricity generation companies to borrow the money they need to build such turbines.  We will continue to explore options for generation green energy, and we hope to be able to revisit the idea of a turbine in the future.”

A spokesperson for Hackney Liberal Democrats said: “It is sad that plans for a local renewable energy source for the residents of Hackney are falling victim to the current public spending problems. Lib Dems in Hackney hope that when their manifesto’s Green Investment Bank has been established, Mr Pipe will be able to revisit this excellent scheme for local, sustainable energy generation.”

Hackney Green Party also regrets that the plans will not go ahead. “It would have been a significant step in reducing Hackney’s carbon emissions,” said spokesperson Anna Hughes. “Investing in green energy now will give economic and environmental returns in the future, and coupled with the loss of the Olympic wind turbine at Stratford, it makes the fight for green energy production longer and more difficult.

However, not all environmental groups felt the wind turbine would have been a good thing – thoughts echoed by Andrew Boff, Hackney resident and Conservative London Assembly Member.

“I’m pleased this project has been abandoned,” he said.  “Whilst the capital costs for establishing large scale wind farms make good financial and environmental sense, one large turbine in isolation really isn’t viable and smacks of greenwash. It makes better sense for Hackney to buy green energy off the grid.”

Hackney Marsh User Group (HMUG) had picked several holes in the wind turbine plan after meeting ecology experts and finding that that predicted wildlife death rates were based on inadequate data.

“As a principle HMUG supports sustainable energy generation but not hasty publicity-seeking gestures towards sustainability,” its spokesperson said.