A Greenpeace volunteer polling beachgoers at Porthcawl
Over the bank holiday weekend, a team of Greenpeace volunteers hit the beach at Porthcawl, Wales to introduce the Scarweather Sands offshore wind farm to visitors to the area.
We spoke to 650 tourists, showed them all a photomontage of what the proposed wind farm will look like, and asked them simply whether they'd be 'more likely', 'just as likely' or 'less likely' to return to the resort if the wind farm went ahead.
The response was overwhelmingly positive. Most people (83%) said they would be just as likely to return to these beaches for their summer holidays, and a sizeable number (13%) said they'd be even more likely to come back. Only 4% said they would be less likely.
Many of the tourists we talked to thought the wind farm would liven up the view and be an added attraction. Others seemed well informed about global warming, and expressed a desire to support a clean solution.
The Greenpeace polling team didn't reveal their own opinions (or the fact that Greenpeace supports offshore wind) until after the visitor had answered - in fact many people assumed we were opposing the project!
The anti-wind lobby claims the proposed wind farm will ruin the tourist industry in Porthcawl. Local politicians have repeated the claim. Now we have evidence which suggests exactly the opposite.
The tourists themselves confirm that it would make no difference to their decision to return, while those who would be 'more likely' to come back outnumber those who would be 'less likely' by three to one.
