"Grass roots" anti-wind farm campaign adopts corporate PR tactics

Approval for new wind farms could become even harder to obtain, following the launch today of a new national alliance of more than 30 anti-wind farm groups that is being headed by an influential lobbyist and senior executive at one of the UK's top PR firms.

The National Alliance of Wind Farm Action Groups (NAWAG) has been launched with the goal of orchestrating a "grass-roots revolt" against "ruthless" wind farm developers, pledging to recruit as many as possible of the 200-plus anti-wind farm groups operating in the UK.

The group is chaired by Jon McLeod, chairman of corporate communications and public affairs at PR firm Weber Shandwick and an experienced parliamentary lobbyist who has previously represented a raft of blue chip clients, including Microsoft, the BBC, Shell, Coca Cola and Barclays.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, McLeod said he had taken up the role in a personal capacity after getting involved in the campaign to oppose the planned Matlock Moor wind farm near his home in Derbyshire. He added that his position at Weber Shandwick was a coincidence and that the PR company would not be working for NAWAG.

The new organisation does, however, appear to have adopted many of the tactics employed by corporate lobbying campaigns.

McLeod said that the aim of the new group would be to raise the issue of wind farm opposition at a national level and engage directly with both the government and opposition parties. He added that it would also provide local groups with information and guidance on how to successfully oppose wind farm applications.

He said a particular focus would be on lobbying the shadow cabinet, which if polls prove correct is now likely to form the next government.

"At a national level the Conservatives have made a play of engagement with green issues, but on the ground they are under pressure from constituents [to oppose wind farms]," McLeod argued. "There's an interesting debate there and the matter is far from settled in policy terms."

In addition to lobbying parliament, the new group will attempt to demonise wind farm developers, accusing them of "cowboy" tactics and overstating the environmental benefits associated with wind farms.

"Communities have expressed concerns at the repeated planning applications they face from developers, which wear the community down until it gives up for want of resources or will," said McLeod, accusing developers of adopting a " cuddly" image while aggressively imposing wind farms on local communities.

He also argued that the variable levels of power provided by wind farms meant there was still a debate over whether wind energy could effectively displace carbon-based power sources.

Studies by the wind industry, government and national grid have all suggested that such concerns are largely unfounded, and that wind farms can play a role in cutting overall emissions as part of the wider energy mix. One study from the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) estimated that each new wind turbine cuts carbon emissions by 4,000 tonnes a year.

McLeod insisted NAWAG was not opposed to all renewable energy projects, but would call for a more "balanced subsidy regime for renewables" that will better encourage non-wind projects such as biomass plants. "I am sympathetic to the notion among some renewables developers that there's nowhere to turn [without facing opposition], but the balance isn't right and one form of renewables is being stimulated over others," he said.

However, the BWEA said the suggestion that onshore wind farms receive greater subsidies than other forms of renewables is entirely inaccurate. It pointed out that under the government's Renewables Obligation incentive mechanism, onshore wind farms receive the same level of support as biomass plants and just half the level of support offered to marine energy and offshore wind farms.

The trade groups also highlighted previous surveys carried out by the organisation that showed 80 per cent of people in the UK are in favour of wind farm developments. "Anti-wind groups are attempting to impose their aesthetic judgement on everyone else, to the detriment of everyone else," said a BWEA spokesman.