ONE of the turbines on top of Civic Centre 3 has now been out of action for a year.
The windmill broke down in the middle of March last year.
And the 27-foot turbine is still lying on its side on top of one of the main buildings in Huddersfield town centre this week.
Kirklees Council installed two windmills in July 2006 to raise awareness of renewable energy among the thousands of motorists who drive along the ring road every day.
But yesterday Clr Andrew Cooper – a strong supporter of wind power – said the turbines were in the wrong place.
The leader of the four-strong Green group on Kirklees said: “Wind power is a good technology which works well and produces a lot of electricity.
“But turbines don’t work well if they are put in the wrong place, such as an urban location surrounded by buildings.
“There has been an issue with that particular turbine but, if you look around Kirklees, you can see places where turbines are used very effectively – such as out on the moors.”
Clr Cooper fears the broken turbine is discrediting renewable energy.
“It makes me sad to think of all the people who see the broken turbine,” he said.
“There is a lot of misinformation about wind power spread by people who read things on the internet about so-called ‘shadow flicker’.
“The broken turbine on the Civic Centre doesn’t help with that.”
The Newsome councillor added that another form of renewable energy would have been a better choice for the building.
He said: “There ought to have been more solar panels put up there because they aren’t as many maintenance issues. Solar panels are ‘fit and forget’.”
A Kirklees spokesman said last night: “Officers are continuing to work on plans to develop the use of the turbines to help meet a portion of the council’s energy needs.”
The six-kilowatt windmills cost £101,000 to buy and install.
Kirklees came up with £70,000 and a Government grant covered the rest.
In 2008 the turbines brought £2,078 into council coffers, but they cost £6,431 to maintain and repair.
HOW things have changed in the time since the turbine broke:
Back in March 2010, Gordon Brown was still Prime Minister and was about to lead the Labour Party into the general election in May
Protests by dedicated fans failed to stop ITV from ditching police series The Bill after 27 years
The English football team cruised to a 3-1 friendly win over Egypt, boosting hopes that the side would win the World Cup in South Africa later that year...
