Hétomesnil (Oise), its museum of agricultural life, its fields and… its wind turbines. It is in fact in this green Picardy village, located about thirty kilometers north-west of Beauvais, that the first wind turbines in the Oise were installed in 2005. “I remember it perfectly,” smiles Monique. At the time, this aroused a lot of curiosity. These iron giants even had their heyday. “People came from far away to have their picture taken at the foot of masts or blades when they were lying on the ground,” continues the resident. This first park included five wind turbines. "I do not know what prompted my predecessor, Robert Mignot, to agree to this installation," said Pascal Verbeke, the current mayor of Hétomesnil. The farmers were able to share around 5,000 euros in monthly rent.
Isabelle, another resident of the village, explains that she was "quite happy to see these symbols of renewable energy arriving next to her house".
But the problem quickly turned to concentration.
“In Hétomesnil, we have ten, but on the Beauvais-Grandvilliers axis, there are a hundred,” deplores Isabelle.
It completely destroyed the landscape.
"
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For Monique, the situation in the village explains the enthusiasm of the promoters.
“We are on a plateau where there is almost always wind, even when there is an active anticyclone like today,” she explains.
There were also many mills in the town before.
"
As for the nuisances, they are, according to them, relative.
“Objectively, when the wind is in the north, you can hear a purring sound,” explains Isabelle.
For comparison, it's like when you run a machine and sleep upstairs.
Ditto for Nathalie, a neighbor who saw two wind turbines being installed 700 m from her house, a year after having had it built in Hétomesnil.
“We no longer pay attention to it and frankly, it's not embarrassing,” she says.
There are no windows on that side.
"
Thanks to the parks, "we were able to bury the networks, restore the church ..."
And the side "feather chopper" denounced by some opponents is not confirmed by the residents.
“No farmer with wind turbines on his fields has told us that they have found the corpses of birds,” explains Isabelle.
However, the anti-wind sling wind also blows in Hétomesnil.
A banner installed in the heart of the village warns the possible promoter of a project of an end of inadmissibility.
Hétomesnil, this Wednesday.
In the village, a banner indicates that new projects will not be welcome.
LP / PC
“When we accepted the second park of five new wind turbines in 2010, we consulted the population,” explains Pascal Verbeke.
At the time, she was in favor of the project.
Today, the trend is more towards hostility.
We are still being asked, but the answer will always be no.
"
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This does not prevent the wind turbines from pushing alongside.
"This is what happened the last time when Hétomesnil refused a project, they settled on the territory of the neighboring village but in the axis of the town", deplores Frédéric, a resident.
To prevent this kind of mishap from happening again, an anti-wind motion was adopted by majority in May, in the Picardie Verte community council.
The financial windfall is no longer enough. "It must be recognized that the wind farms have enabled us to make a certain number of investments for the municipality," admits the mayor. We were able to bury the networks, restore the church or install play areas. But at Hétomesnil, we have given enough for wind power. It is up to others to make their contribution. According to the prefecture, the department of Oise now has 203 wind turbines in operation and 147 projects under investigation.
