OBJ/349/12 TELEVISION RECEPTION PRESENTATION CORE DOCUMENTS - PDF document

OBJ/349/12 TELEVISION RECEPTION PRESENTATION CORE DOCUMENTS DECC003 Compendium Page 4 OBJ/349/POE/1 Television Reception Environmental Statement 1. PREAMBLE Hello, I’m Tony Hinkins. I’ve lived in Frodsham for 45 years and I currently live on Fluin Lane. I have experience of poor television reception in the Frodsham area. My presentation today closely follows the Proof of Evidence. 2. INTRODUCTION Frodsham and Helsby have a history of poor television reception. The recent digital changeover went anything but smoothly. Before changeover there were serious problems with digital pictures breaking up. Since changeover, although picture quality has improved, tuning problems are commonplace. We have no cable service and some households are unable to receive satellite transmissions because of the steeply-rising hills to the south. To be able to see the satellite, you need to be able to see roughly south (a bearing of 145 degrees) at roughly 23 degrees elevation. 3. THE BBC WIND FARM TOOL Ofcom recommend the use of the BBC’s web-based Wind Farm Tool to obtain an indication of the impact a wind farm may have on television reception. We’ve done that and it indicates that the proposed development: • would be likely to affect 162 homes for whom there is no alternative terrestrial service • may affect up to 15,546 homes for whom there may be an alternative terrestrial service For comparison the equivalent figures for Scout Moor Wind Farm (currently the largest in England) are: • would be likely to affect zero homes for whom there is no alternative terrestrial service • may affect up to 1,658 homes for whom there may be an alternative terrestrial service We wrote to DECC on 8th March 2010 to draw attention to the problem and enclosing the results of a Wind Farm Tool run. The letter is in the Compendium.

OBJ/349/12 4. DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM Because of the potentially extremely large number of homes affected, the lack of a cable alternative, and restricted satellite coverage, a thorough professional investigation should have been carried out in line with Ofcom recommendations. Such an investigation would have considered redesign of the wind farm to reduce interference as well as detailing possible mitigation measures. If any of the “162 homes for whom there is no alternative terrestrial service” were to prove to be in an area in which there were no satellite service, then some form of satellite retransmission service might be the only way of restoring reception. No action appears to have been taken by the applicant. The issue has not been addressed in any subsequent revision of the Environmental Statement. 5. DIGITAL TELEVISION SIGNALS 5.1 Ofcom Guidance Ofcom’s guidance on digital television signals is that they are “much better at coping with signal reflections, and digital television pictures do not suffer from ghosting. However a digital receiver that has to deal with reflections needs a somewhat higher signal level than one that has to deal with the direct path only. This can mean that viewers in areas where digital signals are fairly weak can experience interruptions to their reception should new reflections appear...” Frodsham and Helsby are on the edge of the Winter Hill Transmitter Group coverage (ES Figure 8.2 Page 8-6) and appear to suffer from reflections, the transmitters being to the north and the steep faces of the two hills immediately to the south. Local residents have traditionally blamed poor reception on reflections from the hill. 5.2 Public Experience The following newspaper report from the Newcastle Evening Chronicle of 6th November 2008 indicates that digital television signals can be affected by a wind farm. It says that this happened because the turbines were in the line of sight between the transmitter and the aerial. This is the situation in Helsby. It also gives an illustration of the problems residents can experience if a developer has not prepared for the consequences: “Since April Freeview customers in parts of Langley Park, County Durham, have been unable to watch a number of channels. It’s thought up to 100 households have been affected and when they complained, they were stonewalled by companies saying it was not their responsibility.” “But after months of fighting, Langley Park residents have seen a u-turn by energy supplier EDF, which has confirmed the problems have been caused by wind turbines.

OBJ/349/12 EDF accepts thorough checks on the impact of turbines on digital reception were not carried out before work on the wind farm started.” “Lawrie Milner, 58, is one of the many who experienced problems when construction work started. To get to the root of the problem he did surveys within the community and set up a website to keep his neighbours informed.” “His findings revealed all those unable to watch their Freeview channels lived in the same area where the turbines were in the line of sight between homes and Pontop Pike aerial. They included Woodview, Pine Street, Park Drive, Oak Street, Bridge Street, Dean Street and Bridgeway.” “He said: ‘From the start we were told it was not the problem of EDF. We felt fobbed off so I decided to research the matter. It emerged consultants had looked at the impact of turbines on terrestrial TV but not digital services’.” “Following a public meeting last month between residents, EDF and Derwentside Council planners, the energy company agreed to carry out a survey of affected households but this week it abandoned its plan in favour of fitting all the affected homes with Freesat, allowing residents to tune back into their sets.” “Lawrie said: This is a clear victory for people power and for those living without a full TV service since April’.” That’s seven months without a proper television service. We don’t want anything like that to happen here. 6. DISCUSSION The serious potential problem highlighted by the BBC Windfarm Tool and the lack of response from the applicant mean that if this proposal were to proceed: • some residents may lose their television service altogether • others may be forced to move from a terrestrial service to a satellite service • some may need to have their aerials adjusted • others may require specialist help in retuning their receivers The imposition of planning conditions involving post-implementation mitigation is unlikely to result in a satisfactory resolution of the issue because the applicant has not investigated the problem and has consequently not made the necessary preparations. This could all have been avoided if the applicant had followed Ofcom guidance and commissioned a thorough professional investigation.