AS a visitor from Cornwall I was taken aback by Critchell Stoyel’s letter.

Wind turbines are the bane of many people’s lives in Cornwall.

The presence of so many turbines in north Cornwall may be resented less than those elsewhere in the county because tourists there are drawn to the magnificent coastline for its beaches and the sea.

For seaside holidays wind turbines are an irrelevance. But it is a very different story in the Tamar corridor of southeast Cornwall between two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty where turbines have been permitted.

This is an area of rich woodland and pasture similar and comparable to the beautiful country of the Herefordshire/Wales border and few visitors would agree that the turbines there are an attractive feature of the landscape.

They are surprisingly noisy; visually they are restless, obtrusive elements in a tranquil landscape.

It does not take the installation of a wind turbine to cause great harm. Even a planning application for one can cause social unrest and split communities.

Anyone in doubt about this need only look at www.cornwall.gov.uk and see the correspondence relating to wind turbine planning applications. A turbine threatens one’s physical and mental health, the visual amenity of one’s surroundings and, linked to that, the value of one’s property. It is already proven that turbines aggravate epilepsy and the vertigo caused by certain middle- and inner-ear conditions. There is recent research in the USA and Sweden suggesting that the visual and sound-wave disturbance caused by turbines is linked to depression and migraine in humans and to a decrease in milk yield in cattle. As regards property values, estate agents may of course say they are unaffected but sales of houses in my locality have failed as soon as the prospective buyer has discovered the intention of a nearby farmer to erect a wind turbine. Estate agents are so aware of this that they have sometimes not mentioned the possibility of a turbine being installed.

Anyone seriously wanting to understand the value of wind turbines in reducing carbon emissions should do his/her own research and not rely on what wind turbine companies or their clients claim. There is ample evidence that further wind turbines are not the solution for the UK. It is an absurd paradox that diesel-fired power stations are actually being commissioned to counter the excessive use of wind turbines. In regard to global warming the government unfortunately decided to take the cheap, easy route: it has tried to privatise the solution by offering individuals financial incentives. Instead of your money going into the pockets of individual landowners would you as a tax-payer not prefer to pay for thorough, objective research and investment in the most efficient means of reducing carbon emissions?

Entirely by chance I picked up the Hereford Times while in Hereford- shire/Shropshire for a few days’ break. It had been wonderful to escape the fuss surrounding turbines at home and enjoy the beauty of the Marches.

Over the last 10 years my family and I have come here often for holidays, sometimes with friends, happily contributing to the economy. Installation of wind turbines in the beautiful border country would be an appalling mistake. If it happens we, and others, I’m sure, may just as well stay at home.

NAME SUPPLIED Cornwall