ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC ACCEPTABILITY REGARDING WIND TURBINE CONSTRUCTION AS PERCEIVED BY ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONALS

Research for this paper was undertaken with the aim of revealing perceptions of a select group of environmental assessment experts with experience in wind power regarding public opinion. The multi criteria decision making (MCDM) software was used to quantify the expert perceptions of what made a wind turbine site publicly acceptable. Seven environmental experts experienced in wind farm environmental assessment were interviewed using the 'Expert Choice' software. The software recorded and tested interviewee decisions regarding acceptable site types and the criteria that would make them acceptable in terms of public opinion. The need for this research was that historically many environmental expert reports used by wind power site developers that attempted to meet the various criteria for planning permission provided little or no information on public opinion regarding the proposed site that could later lead to it being opposed locally.