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Of men, monkeys and windmills |
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Wednesday, 14 March 2007 |
The windmill saga
rumbles on. The vast
coastal flatlands of
Poitou-Charentes look to be
fertile ground for the sowing
of France’s new crop of
windmills or éoliennes.
Plans for two more
windparks have been okayed
by the mayors of Blanzay,
Romagne and Genouillé, three
Vienne villages within a few
kilometres of each other – and
the Romagne/Blanzay
installation will be within
500m of the Vallée des Singes,
Vienne’s number two tourist
attraction after Futuroscope.
The Vallée des Singes is
more than a zoo-ful of
manmade islands inhabited by
monkeys; it’s also a serious
primate study centre under the
zoological direction of
Hollander Jan Vermeer and the
administrative direction of
Emmanuel Le Grelle. And
though both men have
(slightly different) doubts
about the wisdom of placing
éoliennes so near to the Vallée,
it is Le Grelle who has taken
up the public cudgels.
He it was who spoke out
against the wind generators at
the recent protest meeting in
Genouillé, and it is he who
speaks now: “It’s the lack of
consultation that is upsetting.
The Vallée des Singes is a
major resource for the
community of Romagne – it’s
a mini-locomotive.
We give
employment, we pay our taxes,
we give a focus. And I know the
mayor, M. Porchet. But there
was no consultation. The studies
aren’t transparent enough and
there was no public debate.”
But there doesn’t have to
be, of course. The mayor and
his council are elected to run
their town. These are the
decisions they are elected to
make, presumably. And apart
from the high additional
income from the windparks,
the political climate is
becoming greener by the day.
Romagne first vice-mayor
Daniel Veneuil, who is in
charge of the wind study, said
that, although the wind
measurement mast had been
up since April 2006, it required
a year of measurement before
the results could be seen, “so
no construction permit for
éoliennes has been issued yet.
When the wind results are
available in April this year, that
will be the time for public
meetings and enquiries. That’s
logic…”
Le Grelle has a map – he
was coy about where he got it
from – which purports to show
the exact locations of each of
the seven wind generators. And
certainly the northeasternmost
machine would be very close
to his Vallée.
When asked if there might
be a danger to the animals, or
if studies so indicate, Le Grelle
was less sure. “To be near these
machines for an hour or two is
one thing. To be near them for
days and years is another.
Animals are more sensitive to
noise than we are. Who knows?
But visually, it will be a shame
to have these enormous things
rearing up behind a natural
environment like the Vallée.”
He went on: “Any
community in the Vienne, in
Poitou-Charentes – in France
– would welcome us. We bring
a lot to the village and to the
area. This seems a shame…”
Was this a threat to move
elsewhere?
“Not at all!”
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