affluence

My personal view and not one I expect everyone to take if that I really don’t want any more windfarm shadows falling over my landscape. I’m not sure this poll is truly revealing – perhaps if asked if they would like a series of these things close to their own properties these people might have offered a more nuanced view. I would be very interested to do a socio-economic analysis on the location of windfarms to see what it reveals about the relationship between relative affluence and their locations. Still this article tells us:

Pressure is mounting within the Conservative party to end its block on new onshore windfarms after evidence that Tory supporters overwhelmingly back their return.

Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, who are battling to become the party’s new leader, are facing internal calls to give the green light to new onshore wind projects that could slash the price of energy.

Latest research suggests Tory voters are far more concerned about fracking than they are about onshore windfarms.

Clamping down on onshore wind turbines was used by David Cameron to appease Tory heartlands when he was prime minister. He said people were “frankly fed up” with the farms and slashed their subsidies, effectively making new installations unfeasible. The move led to an 80% slump last year in new onshore wind farms, with the fewest built since 2011. However, polling of more than 15,000 Tory voters suggests there is now clear support for onshore wind farms.

The survey, carried out by Survation, for the Conservative Environment Network, showed that 74% of people who voted Conservative in the last election support onshore wind farms. The figure was twice the number of Tory voters who back fracking – just 37%.