Beach campaigners recreate Pink Floyd album art

A campaign group in Devon has recreated the famous Pink Floyd album cover on Saunton Sands beach to protest against plans for an electricity cable from an offshore wind farm. The original album cover, for Pink Floyd's 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason, was shot at the same beach and shows rows of metal-framed beds lined up on the sand. The campaign group Save Our Sands used metal bed frames scattered across the beach to highlight their opposition to the White Cross offshore wind farm project.

The White Cross wind farm plans to install seven floating turbines about 30 miles off the north Devon coast. The project includes bringing a power cable onshore at Saunton Sands, then running it under Braunton Burrows and across the Taw Estuary to connect to a new electricity substation. Despite over 1,800 objections from the public, the local council approved the plans, persuaded by arguments that the project would create jobs and provide renewable energy to the region.

Helen Cooper, founder of Save Our Sands, expressed her disappointment and said the council had a 'momentary lapse of reason' in approving the plans. The campaign group quickly raised nearly £900 to fund their Pink Floyd-inspired demonstration. They want to draw attention to the environmental and tourism concerns raised by many objectors, including the impact of heavy goods vehicles and damage to the local ecology. Cooper emphasized that the group is not against wind farms or renewable energy but opposes the cable route that threatens the special environment of North Devon. They hope their protest will encourage people to value and protect this precious area.