Dear sir,
re the article “ Fears are unfounded ” Largs and Millport , 21st June,.at no time during the NAC Planning Committee Meeting on the 14th June did Dr Joy Tomlinson say what you quote. What she actually said in response to a Planning Committee member`s pertinent question about the effectiveness of using an epidemiological study was this “it is a rough and ready tool, it depends on how people describe things when they come in to see their doctor and different GP practices also code things differently . Picking up small changes, especially if it is just for a few months of activity (as in the case of the wind turbines at Hunterston) would be difficult.” If she did, as you claim, e mail it post meeting to the press then it is unfortunate that both A-Anhs representatives are sticking to the same incorrect statement that there is no good published evidence that wind turbines and associated infrasound adversely affect humans.
Ayrshire and Arran NHS surely must have known that continuing to use this inappropriate type of study was a waste of time. For Ms Henderson A-A nhs to refer to this study as though valid, and to use it to shore up her inaccurate and outdated statements is misleading and a disservice to the community. She refers to the Advisory Group on non ionising Radiation`s AGNIR`s report (2010) on infrasound which is all about ultrasound with five lines devoted to infrasound.
AGNIR state Infrasound is not a priority research project due to financial constraints. It does not say there is no harm to health from infrasound.
Ms Henderson`s 6 minute waffle about cancer clusters and infectious diseases, neither of which relate to the detrimental health effects suffered by those exposed to the infrasound and very low frequencies produced by the Mitsubishi Sea Angel test wind turbine, is a poor substitute for her expected written submission to NAC. This had been promised to Fairlie Community Council well before the Planning Committee meeting on the 14th June. Where is it?
In the middle of all her long and rather irrelevant statement there is an honest nugget…she says “ there is a direct causation between infrasound and damage to health “. Pity it was lost amongst all the other unfinished sentences, dropped in phrases attempting to give credence to a very poor report. There is a cohort of people seriously and adversely affected by the inappropriate location of the offshore wind turbines at Hunterston. A normal wind turbine has a setback distance of 2km and it only produces a third of the power of the Mitsubishi. The Mitsubishi is 2.5Km from Fairlie and Millport . The two huge wind turbines are causing detrimental neurological and physiological effects as soon as they start to turn.. SSE lease the site from Peelports. SSE run the site and own the Siemen`s turbine which has completed its testing . SSE sublet to Mitsubishi. Since autumn of last year Fairlie Community Council and local individuals have brought the health issue to the attention of NAC, SSE, A-Anhs and HPS.. Despite the fact North Ayrshire Council , Scottish and Southern Energy, Ayrshire and Arran NHS and Health Protection Scotland`s Dr Colin Ramsay know there is a serious health problem they remain in denial and pass the buck. Last week, the CEO and legal Department of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was directly informed that its Sea Angel wind Turbine is causing ill health. We await his response. It is bad enough that all these bodies are letting our communities down . The Scottish Government needs to step in, insist the Precautionary Principle is applied , acknowledge the need for safe setback distances for offshore turbines on land and make sure until regulations governing infrasound and the extremely damaging frequencies below 10
Hertz.( because there are no regulations for these yet) are put in place testing at Hunterston is stopped.
Rita Holmes (Chairwoman Fairlie Community Council)