Wind turbine project draws protests in the Dordogne
More than 450 people in the Dordogne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) have protested against a wind turbine project in the region.
On Saturday August 24, local protesters marched against the proposed installation of five wind turbines in the nearby forêt de la Double, to the west of Périgueux.
Marchers carried banners reading: “No to industrial wind turbines in our countryside” and “Yes to renewable energy that is well-placed and accepted”.
Should they be built, the wind turbines would be 182 metres tall and be especially visible from the communes of Parcoul-Chenaud and Saint-Aulaye-Puymangou, where the protest took place.
The march - which was also attended by several local mayors and department councillors - was organised by local anti-wind farm association Asso3D (Défense du Val de Dronne et de la Double).
It was prompted by the news that the Dordogne authorities were ready “to soon grant the two last permissions needed for the five-turbine project”.
Association representative Thierry Bonne said that a local petition had shown that 94% of people were against the project, with 28 municipal councils having voted against it too.
According to critics, the project will ruin the famous landscape, threaten biodiversity, change the migratory patterns of local birds, and spread ultrasound and infrasound waves that would be - the critics say - harmful to nearby residents’ health.
