Its basic argument is that windmills are ugly and destroy the landscape. It also complains that turbines are noisy when placed near houses. Public opinion on these issues is naturally divided. While in areas of outstanding natural beauty and in national parks the landscape issue is important, there are many who believe that in other places the slim white windmills are an improvement - certainly preferable to a coal or nuclear power station. Public opinion has slowly but steadily moved in favour of wind power, especially after schemes have been built.
Experience shows that fears of noise are often overplayed.
So the industry hopes that the repeated delays for schemes, partly driven by ill-informed opposition, is set to change. Wind power's advantage over other renewable technologies is that it is nearer to competing on price, and there are literally thousands of sites where wind turbines could be built which are currently untapped. With wind turbines relatively easy and quick to erect, wind farms can be in operation in months - compared with as many years it would take for a new nuclear station to be built, for example. This offsets the increased cost of building at sea and with it the technical problems of building bases on the sea bed. Another advantage of offshore wind is the opportunity to build much larger windmills.