Geoffrey Osborn, of Blackawton, writes:

Full marks to your paper for drawing readers' attention to yet another planning application for a wind turbine in the South Hams, ref 10/0642/14/F.

Worse still, it's right in the heart of the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

What will be natural or beautiful about this area if the planners continue to give permission for turbines all over the place?

Even now, when you drive to East Prawle, there is already a sprinkling of turbines of various sizes.

The smaller domestic ones are fine next to the houses that they serve, but the larger ones in open fields are totally out of place.

They will discourage visitors, so what cumulative effect will all these turbines have on the tourism industry on which so many local people depend?

If an individual farmer wishes to benefit from renewables subsidies, then the landscape would be better preserved by the use of solar panels on roofs, or a few domestic scale turbines close to the buildings.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the case that 'applications linked clearly to the operation of a farm business are likely to be viewed more sympathetically than applications for purely commercial reasons'.

Surely, the council policy that developments need to demonstrate 'how they conserve or enhance the South Hams' landscape character' must override such considerations.

So who will protect our landscape?

We must do so ourselves, by writing reasoned letters of objection, copying them to parish and district councillors, attending parish and district council meetings to make our views known.

The one other line of hope is the South Devon AONB office , Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, TQ9 5NE; email robin.toogood@southdevon aonb.org.uk.

Please write to them and impress on them how urgent it is to stem the flow of these applications before we find ourselves living not in an AONB, but in an AOWT.