WHILE I am against wind farms being placed immediately adjacent to villages without the consent of the residents, should it not be the case that where such large wind farms are going to be developed, such as the one suggested near Newton Aycliffe, the local community, including the business community and local authority, actually nail down the developers.

I would suggest every effort should be made to mitigate the impact of these wind farms.

They should demand that any electricity generated is used to offset electricity bills of the business community at Newton Aycliffe.

This could extend to the local authority.

The local community should be offered shares in the development and any profit is then, in part, distributed back to the local community.

Businesses and the local authority should also be offered shares.

Where possible, local manufacturing and employment considerations are should be maximised.

The EU directives pushing the renewables targets for respective governments are not going to suddenly disappear.

It is imperative that “well-placed” wind farms are used for the benefit of the locality and not just developers.

Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland.