SIR — For more than a year, a group of local people, as a sub-group with Brendon Energy, have been working on plans for a community wind power project, but we have decided not to proceed.

In this time, we researched many issues, including costs, avoiding noise and wildlife impacts, and the energy and financial returns that can be gained.

We undertook a survey of local opinion, which had a mixed response, highlighting both significant support and opposition. We were most encouraged by the high levels of support among younger generations.

However, we were surprised by some strong reactions against the idea of a modest wind energy scheme, which would have made a small contribution to tackling a very serious global problem.

There was also some misrepresentation of our plans. Our intentions were always to reduce carbon emissions and use a free renewable resource to generate clean electricity, with the profits donated for local benefit.

We have seen community wind power projects successfully established in other parts of the UK and we would have loved to do the same in our area.

We did not intend to impose a turbine on people living nearby who did not want it and we would have consulted and listened carefully if we had got to the stage of selecting and proposing any sites.

However, we found siting constraints due to regional radar were very extensive and that the capacity to connect to the local electricity grid has become limited and too costly for our small scheme.

We wish to thank all those who supported our project, including the Co-operative and Centre for Sustainable Energy, and all those who responded to our survey to share their views.

Dave Mansell, Ian Ayre and Richard Brunning

Wind Energy Group,