The funny thing is that NYMBY people should ask just the people who already have wind farms in their backyards.

Back in 2003, this was done in a Mori poll in Scotland. See the press report or the quastionnaire (pdf!). A small sampling of the result:

A total of 1,810 adults aged 18+ were interviewed by telephone between February 27 and March 18 this year. All respondents lived within a 20 km zone of the windfarms. The survey obtained results that are representative of people living within three zones (up to 5 km of a windfarm, 5-10 km and 10-20 km), and are representative of people living within 20 km of each of the ten windfarms...

• Just five people (0.3%) spontaneously mention windfarms as a negative aspect of their area.

• Three times the number of residents say that their local windfarm has had a broadly positive impact on the area (20%) as say that it has had a negative impact (7%). Most people feel that it has had neither a positive nor a negative impact.

• People who lived in their homes before the windfarm was developed say that, in advance of the windfarm development, they thought that problems might be caused by its impact on the landscape (27%), traffic during construction (19%) and noise during construction (15%). By comparison, since the windfarm development, only 12% are concerned about the impact on the landscape,, 6% say that during construction there were problems with additional traffic, and 4% say there was noise or disturbance during construction .

• There is substantial support for the idea of enlarging existing windfarm sites among those who live close to them, particularly if the increase in the number of turbines involves the addition of no more than 50% of the existing number. A majority (54%) would support an expansion of their local windfarm by half the number of turbines again, while one in eleven is opposed (9%). Support drops somewhat if the proposal is to double the number of turbines. In this case, four in ten would be in favour (42%) and one in five (21%) would be opposed.

• People living closest to the windfarms tend to be most positive about them (44% of those living within 5km say the windfarm has had a positive impact, compared with 16% of those living 10-20km away). They are also most supportive of expansion of the sites (65% of those in the 5km zone support 50% expansion, compared with 53% of those in the 10-20km zone).

• Similarly, those who most frequently see the windfarms in their day-to-day lives tend to be most favourable towards them (33% of those who see the turbines all the time or frequently say the windfarms have had a positive impact on the area, while 18% of those who only see them occasionally say the same).

• While many say that they feel that nuclear, coal and oil generation should be reduced, clear majorities favour increasing the proportion of electricity generated through wave (69%) and wind energy (82%).

• ...few are dissatisfied with the consultation by the developer (11%), with most expressing neutral views.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}