People do funny things when it comes to wind generated electricity. We all say we want it, yet when the time comes to install these pollution-free power creators, we jump up and down about not wanting to see them doing their job. There’s even an acronym for this attitude: NIMBY (Not in my back yard).

However, when one of these wind turbines which was installed 17 years ago breaks and is threatened with removal, the locals scream at the top of their lungs to keep it.
This is exactly what’s happened with Wellington’s Brooklyn wind turbine. Local residents are so in love with their (let’s face it; statistically useless) lone turbine that they’ve even asked for it to remain in place even if only for artistic merit with it’s generator and inner workings removed.

But for now, the lone Brooklyn turbine is safe. Public support has showed that local residents are in love with their turbine. Electricity provider Meridian Energy says the future of Wellington’s Brooklyn wind turbine is looking pretty favourable after a groundswell of public support.

The 17-year-old structure, New Zealand’s oldest and first commercially viable turbine, has not been in use for four months because it needs repairs. Suggestions the turbine be scrapped have spurred a huge response from Wellingtonians, who say it has become a city landmark.

Some people had said it did not matter if the turbine was functional and generating energy, as long as the blades still turned in the wind.

So it’s settled. The aptly nicknamed “Windy Wellington” is in love with wind turbine electricity generation. The big question is if Wellington residents will keep this point of view when the time comes to install 62 new turbines for Project West Wind later this year.

Will they embrace these new “sculptures”, or will it be another case of NIMBY? Only time will tell.