The greatest knowledge and expertise for finding a technical solution such as advanced radar filters lies, ironically, within the military and civil aviation fields. The British Wind Energy Association, which represents the industry, has called for the MoD (military aviation) and the Department of Transport (civil aviation) to take a more active role and become genuinely committed to finding a technical solution. Chris Tomlinson, the BWEA’s Head of Offshore Wind said, ‘The Transport Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence have remained very quiet on the issue, but it remains a classic opportunity for ‘‘joined-up government’’ to help deliver their own targets, an opportunity which has so far been missed.’

The British Government also came in for criticism from the RSPB, which launched an unexpected attack on the wind power industry on the eve of its ‘UK Offshore Wind 2004’ conference in London earlier this month. The RSPB’s threat to take legal action to block the construction of offshore wind farms came as a genuine shock to an industry that has consulted the RSPB and English Nature (another UK Government body) at a very early stage in site scoping.

The RSPB’s Director of Conservation, Dr Mark Avery, told the London conference that virtually all the offshore wind farm sites licensed by the Government recently in Round Two of a rapidly expanding programme are in areas identified by English Nature as potentially being of international importance for birds.

A recent directive from the European Commission requires member states to draw up lists of all the Special Protection Areas (SPAs) where birds are safe from outside interference and to protect them under European law. The British Government has been slow to identify SPAs at sea, while the RSPB is calling for detailed ecological surveys of proposed wind farm locations before they can proceed.

Dr Avery said in London, ‘The RSPB supports increased renewable energy generation as part of a balanced approach towards tackling climate change, which we see as the greatest threat to the world’s wildlife. But our endorsement is not a blank cheque. Wind power development must guarantee the protection of environmentally<$>sensitive sites. ‘Urgent research is needed into the locations, numbers and movements of birds around our coasts to help us understand the potential impacts. If we are to avoid expensive and time consuming legal battles, the Government needs to do more to understand where there might be problems and to steer wind farm developments away from such areas.’

MJ Information No 19212