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SEALE-HAYNE EDUCATIONAL TRUST FINAL PROJECT REPORT The purpose of this form is for applicants in receipt of grants to provide the Trustees with a report on the progress of their project Please ensure that this Report is not more than three sides of A4 (Arial, font size 12). Title of Project Experiences of place and change in rural landscapes: the case of wind farms Name of Applicant(s) Rebecca Wheeler (née Eastman) Start date: May 2013 Completion date: October 2015 Funds awarded: £1153.60 Funds spent: £11540 Please attach a financial statement from your faculty/college accounting point showing a breakdown of the costs incurred. State the original objectives of the project: 1. To evaluate how rural land-use changes are incorporated into local perceptions of the countryside 2. To identify whether local attitudes towards existing wind farms are positive, negative or ambivalent, and whether or not these have changed over time 3. To explore how people’s relationship to the place where they live is affected by the presence of a wind farm Have those objectives been achieved? If not, please explain why. Yes – see below. Please summarise your project, outlining methods, results and conclusions Methods The research for the project was conducted using qualitative walking interviews with rural residents in the village of Martham, Norfolk, which complemented previous interview data gathered in the villages of Mullion (Cornwall) and Askam and Ireleth (Cumbria). Initially, participants were recruited via ‘gatekeepers’ such as the parish council and local history society. Further volunteers were then identified using the snowballing technique. In total, 27 participants were interviewed in Martham, adding to the 51 previously interviewed in the other case study areas. The interviews explored residents’ perceptions and opinions of the place in which they lived and how it had changed over the time that they had known it, focussing particularly on attitudes to the local wind farm, which in Martham’s case has existed since 1992. Since the Martham fieldwork (the component funded by SHET) formed part of a wider project, the results discussed below refer to the whole research - i.e. all three case studies, rather than just Martham alone. U:\DH\Seale-Hayne Educational Trust – Reporting form for Projects Funded Page 1 of 3 Results Rural residents’ experiences of, and responses to, place-based changes are unsurprisingly multifarious and complex. However, the results of this research refute assumptions of blanket resistance to change in ‘traditional’ rural areas. Changes such as housing developments and an increase in newcomers, as well as the introduction of wind-farms, were observed in all three case studies. Whilst there are a number of issues and concerns relating to these changes (e.g. housing affordability for ‘locals’), many residents took a pragmatic view and felt that some amount of placebased change is necessary in order for the village to thrive and ‘live’. Past changes are, therefore, for the most part accommodated within interviewees’ identifications with place, as new structures become incorporated into the background of people’s everyday lives and new people become assimilated into the social relations and dynamics of the ‘community’. There is, however, a strong desire to retain the place’s ‘character’ and links to its traditional roots. I suggest that heritage-related practices such as the creation of local history groups and the continuation of traditional community events (e.g. carnival parades) help to maintain this sense of connection with the past throughout times of change. For many residents, maintaining a sense of ‘community’ is a priority in protecting the place’s identity. Thus, in the long term, changes with notable social impacts are likely to elicit more negative opinions among local residents than transformations that primarily affect the aesthetics of the physical environment – though widespread ‘acceptance’ of a land-use change requires time and is highly context dependent. The majority of residents that were interviewed did not have particularly strong opinions about their local wind farm and did not raise it in their conversations about place and change. When prompted, many were ambivalent about its presence, stating that they did not notice it on a day-to-day basis and that it did not have a significant impact (either positive or negative) on the place where they lived (which virtually all participants felt strongly attached to). Some of these people reported on having changed their opinion since the wind-farms initial proposal (having been sceptical to begin with), but most do not remember ever feeling particularly strongly about it. This does not mean that existing wind-farms are entirely unproblematic, however, as high profile contestations over wind-farms are testament to the strength of feeling by opponents at the proposal stage and the disruption and distress this causes. Furthermore, a few participants continued to strongly dislike the turbines and reported negative impacts, such as noise-pollution and visual intrusion. Many others (including some of those who were generally ambivalent) expressed sustained scepticism about the wind-farm’s efficiency and need to be there. In terms of positive opinions, several participants found the turbines aesthetically pleasing and two people in Cumbria mentioned the positive affect that they believe the nearby off-shore wind-farm has had on fish stocks (due to reduced accessibility by fishing boats). However, only one person mentioned any positive effects for the community itself – this being the Goonhilly Wind Farm Community Fund, which is now available to local groups in Mullion. There were, however, differences in the relative strength of positive/negative opinions between the three case studies due to a number of site-specific factors. Scepticism was relatively high in Askam and Ireleth, where the wind-farm provoked considerable controversy when it was built in 1999 and where an organised protest group existed. Here, there were more comments questioning the windfarm’s efficiency and complaints about noise from those living nearest to it. The wind-farm’s positioning on a steep slope overlooking the village may also contribute to a sense that it is “in people’s faces”. The high number of wind-farms in Cumbria as a whole, and around the case study area in particular, also emerged as contributing to negative perceptions, as there was a feeling that the area has already ‘done enough’ towards meeting the nation’s energy demands – particularly as the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant and Rampside Gas Terminal are also located nearby. In contrast, residents in Martham were generally quite positive – or at least ambivalent - about their wind-farm, partly due to a feeling that it was a natural continuation of Norfolk’s historical use of wind power and ‘fitted in’ with the traditional windmills in the landscape. The flat landscape also means that the wind-farm is not as visible from most of Martham as in the Askam and Ireleth case. Mullion residents were perhaps most ambivalent about the wind-farm. This is partly related to its age (being built in 1993) and thus familiarity to residents, but is also partly due to its particular inland location. Being sited away from the coast - arguably Mullion’s most treasured attraction - means that its presence does not significantly encroach on the most valued assets of the place. U:\DH\Seale-Hayne Educational Trust – Reporting form for Projects Funded Page 2 of 3 Conclusions Experiences of rural land-use change are multifarious and dependent upon the local context and specificities of the change. However, in general, rural residents recognise the need for change and, under the right conditions, may even welcome it. Protecting or enhancing social vitality and a sense of community is key to this. Local attitudes towards existing the wind-farms studied here are generally ambivalent. Strongly positive or strongly negative opinions do exist, but are less common. Scepticism about the efficiency of wind-farms, however, is high, even among those who are ambivalent about their presence. For the most part, wind-farms have become accommodated within residents’ perceptions of place over time and do not have a significant impact on their attachment to it. However, those most strongly opposed continue to view their local wind-farm as a negative intrusion on the landscape and community. The ease and extent to which wind-farms are incorporated into place identity is dependent on factors such as the socio-historical context of the area and the perceived appropriateness of the wind-farm’s specific siting. These findings suggest that conducting meaningful conversations with local people about how changes can be implemented in a way that minimises disruption to place identities and enhances ‘community’ life holds promise for improving the management of change in rural areas. Identifying opportunities for tying new developments in with existing socio-historical contexts, avoiding impacting on particularly valued place-assets, and enhancing social facilities/community life may also prove beneficial. What specific outcomes (tangible or intangible) have arisen from this research (including publication, events, media interest and other forms of dissemination)? Academic papers: Wheeler, R. (2014) ‘Mining memories in a rural community: landscape, temporality and place identity’ Journal of Rural Studies, 36 (0). pp 22-32. An additional two papers relating to the research are planned for publication over the next year. Conference presentations: ‘Wind energy and local readings of landscape: conflict or congruent?’ Presented at the RGSIBG Annual Conference 2014 (London 27th-29th August 2014). ‘Mining memories in a Cumbrian village: landscape and place identity’. Presented at the RGSIBG Postgraduate Mid-term Conference 2014 (Loughborough, 14th – 15th April 2014). ‘The hybrid countryside: a wind energy resource?’ Presented at ‘Rurality: New Perspectives and Themes’ (Bamberg, Germany, 14th-15th November 2013). Other: As a piece of doctoral research, this project has contributed greatly to the professional development of the principal investigator and has provided her with extensive experience of designing, carrying out and disseminating research. The financial support provided by SHET was invaluable in enabling the Martham fieldwork to be conducted. It thus greatly enhanced the quality and value of the wider research project, as the ability to include a third case study facilitated insights that would not otherwise have been gained and increased the robustness of the findings. U:\DH\Seale-Hayne Educational Trust – Reporting form for Projects Funded Page 3 of 3