There's a bear over there...
- Rebecca Lawrence is camping in Canada
Joy at windfarm ruling
Thursday 16th July 2009, 2:09PM BST.
Campaigners were celebrating today after a Government inspector threw out plans for a windfarm near Market Drayton.
Owen Paterson, MP for North Shropshire, hailed the decision as a “tremendous result” which prevented the “devastation of the north Shropshire landscape”. Nuon Renewables had wanted to install seven 110m turbines.
The Planning Inspectorate was called in after Nuon appealed against a decision by the former North Shropshire District Council to refuse permission for the turbines at Lower Farm, Bearstone, near Market Drayton.
Nuon also appealed against Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s refusal of planning permission for access to the site.
But yesterday, the inspectorate said it had rejected the appeals and upheld the councils’ decisions.
Campaigners feared the turbines would have a detrimental effect on the landscape and would cause noise.
Announcing the decision, which followed a four-week inquiry in May, Trevor Cookson, planning inspector, said he did not consider noise would be a problem, but the visual intrusion would be “significant”.
“In terms of appearance in this setting, the turbines would be seen as large, alien features,” he said.
Steve Ellsmoor, from campaign group Veto on Rural Turbine Expansion (Vortex), said hundreds of residents were celebrating.
He said he and his family had considered moving if the wind turbines were allowed.
“We are so pleased,” he said. “Our campaign has cost £80,000 to £100,000, because we fought it ourselves. The money had to go towards paying our own consultants and looking at everything, but it’s been worth it.”
Mr Paterson, Conservative MP for the area, said it was “a great team victory” and added: “You were looking at devastation of the north Shropshire landscape, destruction of a world class stud, houses devalued by 25 per cent, damage to the wildlife and it would have made life difficult for RAF Shawbury.”
Al Hanagan, Nuon spokesman, said: “Nuon will be disappointed with the outcome, but we will look closely at the decision letter before deciding what further steps will be taken.”
By Abigail Bates
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Nuclear Power? Yes, Please!
A new generation nuclear plant on the outskirts of Market Drayton is now on the cards.
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This is what the Conservative Party website says about the challenge of climate change:
‘With our energy supplies increasingly sourced overseas, and with urgent action needed to combat climate change, it’s time to rethink the way we supply and consume energy in Britain.
We urgently need to move to a low carbon economy in order to strengthen our economy, help guarantee our energy security and protect our environment for future generations.’
http://www.conservatives.com/Policy/Where_we_stand/Energy.aspx
Are these words just PR for the ‘Think Green Vote Blue’ party, or is Mr Paterson really re-thinking the way energy security is strengthened and energy is supplied and consumed in North Shropshire?
We urgently need to move to a low carbon economy, but I see little urgency from our elected representatives (Conservative or Lib Dem) in this region ( http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/07/15/opik-hands-in-turbine-petition/ ).
In 2007 Germany’s Öko-Institut calculated the relative carbon emissions for different forms of energy.
Coal: 1,153 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
Gas: 428 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
Wind: 24 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt hour
In December 2008 the first quantitative, scientific evaluation of the proposed major energy sources was produced by Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University (later published in ‘Energy and Environmental Science’).
Jacobson assessed not only their potential for delivering energy for electricity and vehicles, but also their impacts on global warming, human health, energy security, water supply, space requirements, wildlife, water pollution, reliability and sustainability.
Quoting from Stanford University News, ‘the raw energy sources that Jacobson found to be the most promising are, in order,
1) wind
2) concentrated solar (the use of mirrors to heat a fluid)
3) geothermal
4) tidal
5) solar photovoltaics (rooftop solar panels)
6) wave
7) hydroelectric
Jacobson recommends against nuclear, coal with carbon capture and sequestration, corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol, which is made of prairie grass.’
Vortex, the anti-wind group, refused to be drawn on which energy source their members preferred when contacted by the Shropshire Green Party, but this is a vital question, which our democracy needs to discuss and find answers to.
What does Mr Paterson propose instead of wind?
All parties involved in the Shropshire wind debate can hopefully agree on the need for massive government investment in energy conservation schemes.
However, the Labour government still refuses to fully fund a universal energy-saving programme for all homes and businesses. Instead individuals have to apply for loans.
Time is running out. We need big cuts in carbon NOW, and wind is a vital part of the energy mix.
If objectors don’t like wind, then -once their joy has abated- it would be great if they could let us know which form of low-carbon energy Shropshire should be pushing towards.
Is Matt (#1) right?
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We need alternative power but they must be located in the best places. Where it is windy and not on top of peoples lives. This location is not right. So I think this was finally a shot in the arm for common sense – try windy, hilly, isolated places.
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How does this fit in with the tory green credentials? oh yes not on my doorstep :-(
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Or, Mike, with the Labour green credentials of more nuclear power? The uranium miners don’t count, somehow.
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What do you think of the idea of concentrated solar, Mark Egerton?
Concentrating solar power (CSP) uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto water. This produces steam that can then turn turbines and generate electricity.
For a very short video about the benefits of concentrated solar (no. 2 on recommended list in the Stanford University report in #2), I recommend this explanation by Gerry Wolff of a group called Desertec-UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jul/09/manchester-report-gerry-wolff-solar
Importing clean energy from the Sahara desert won’t create jobs in Shropshire as wind does or do much for our manufacturing base as wind could, but it sounds like the sort of thing that our MPs should be investigating, doesn’t it?
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i am gutted that NIMBYs have cost shropshire green collar jobs – this is on the day that the government announced we urgently need more wind power to help save the climate and ween us off our oil and coal addiction. This is not right, we will scare off businesses to other parts of the country or to other countries where they encourage and support green businesses and have a sensible planning regime which supports entrepreneurs and investment in new technology.
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Great news, the greenie lefties have lost, lets keep england a green and pleasant land, we dont want these things in our area, well done to our Conservative MP for defeating these evil things
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nice one Owen – seriously well done (NOT!)
Did you know the only british wind turbine manufacturer Vestas on the isle of Wight is on the verge of closure – 600 skilled jobs to be lost / moved production overseas where they are keen on high tech manufacturing and support emerging technology not strangle it with red tape
In the Times Business Section last week it says “The company cited sluggish demand for turbines in the UK, in contrast to booming wind energy sales in China and the United States.”
Thank you very much Owen Paterson and VORTEX, from the bottom of my heart i wish the dole on you and all your kin, from the workers of UK PLC
In Shropshire people are struggling with high fuel bills and jobs and being cut. We are plagued by wacky weather costing taxpayers millions to repair roads and flood damage etc.
Meanwhile the North Shropshire MP is against clean, green, cheap, abundant power production in Shropshire, Not in his back yard, oh no, he doesnt want jobs in his back yard, why on earth would north shropshires economy want a power station ?
I dispair
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excellent news
down with the eu and their ugly turbines, this is a victory for GB against the lefty greens
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i would like to know what the new conservative administration in Shropshire Council thinks about this as they are hiding behind the old north shropshire council. Typical small local NIMBY council.
I think we DO need more turbines in Shropshire and for the good of the county as a whole we should put them in the north to keep the south nice as an AONB, or better still why not in Shrewsbury and telford where they have plenty of industrial development, i would like to see them in Battlefield instead of that incinerator as they have no emissions they are better for health and pollution and climate change
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jogging prince is right (#9) to highlight the effect that the paucity of vision, communication and leadership from Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems ( http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/07/15/opik-hands-in-turbine-petition/ ) is having on our green industrial manufacturing potential, which is slipping away before our eyes.
How is a green industrial revolution going to be possible in the UK if we are served by politicians with such a staggeringly flimsy grasp of the implications of climate change and the job-creating potential of green technologies?
At the end of May there were 2.38 million people out of work according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) -a 10-year high in Shropshire ( http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/02/11/jobless-at-10-year-high/ ).
According to the UN 300,000 people are dying worldwide as a result of climate change every year, mostly the poorest people in the poorest countries, who have done least to contribute to it.
The UK economy is as dangerously addicted to oil, gas and coal as ever. Rises in the price of energy in the next few years are widely predicted -and clearly ignored.
The rhetoric of the 3 main parties on advancing the move to a low carbon economy needs to be matched by political will and a willingness to argue the case for a root-and-branch conversion of our economy away from fossil fuels.
If politicians in the windiest country in Europe don’t want wind power (the cleanest, greenest, least destructive of all energy sources -see Stanford University report in #2) then it is incumbent upon them to articulate their vision of low-carbon alternatives for Shropshire, which will ‘strengthen our economy, help guarantee our energy security and protect our environment for future generations.’
With the exception of one time-wasting caricature (Tory Boy), the silence on low-carbon alternatives to wind has been deafening.
I hope someone who is experiencing joy about this decision is willing to explain why they are right and why the losers in this decision are wrong.
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vortex are luddites holding this country back and keeping Shropshire in the medieval dark ages. Wind is abundant, clean and cheap, its the most efficient renewable by a mile with decent sites having a load factor of 35% almost the same as old coal fired power stations, way higher than energy from waste plants. Wind can produce electricity cheaper than fossil fuels in the right conditions.
NIMBYS = not in my back yard
BANANAS = build absolutely nothing at all never anywhere
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i am shocked that the MP still claims the RAF will be hindered by a wind farm, he lost this debate a long time ago and we all know pilots can fly around wind farms, even the base commander came out and said it was no problem for the RAF base to have a wind farm here
David Cameron needs to have a word with his MP and remind him conservatives are now pro the environment and that means pro wind power
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im local and im in favour
sadly vortex are a vocal minority
i reckon more would be too if the wind power companies did what the danes did and gave 50% off electric to all those with a view
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This is a highly subjective issue. Being visible is not necessarily the same as being intrusive. While some people express concern about the effect wind turbines have on the beauty of our landscape, others see them as elegant and beautiful, or symbols of a better, less polluted future.
The landscape we inhabit is largely human-made and it evolves over time. In comparison to other energy developments like nuclear, coal and gas power stations, or open cast mining, wind farms have relatively little visual impact. Nevertheless sites within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) or National Parks are unlikely to be appropriate for large wind farms.
The increased utilisation of renewable energy and greater use of wind power will mean that we will have more of these structures visible in our townscape and landscape in the future. But all the organisations supporting this web site believe that wind energy is one of the most environmentally benign ways of producing the electricity we need to power our daily lives.
If we don’t switch to cleaner forms of energy, climate change will severely and irrevocably alter much of our landscape as well as the animal and plant life it contains.
Relative to the danger of climate change aesthetics are trivial
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i hope the wind power firm wins on appeal because we need the power in shropshire, ironbridge is closing soon
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i think wind turbines are rather sleek and sexy actually…
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I think Sam Macmahon has hit the nail on the head with his point.
Government should ensure through legislation that wind farms bring tangible benefits to the community that they supply.
After all, no form of energy production is truly sustainable without local support.
Greenpeace has an inspiring animation on their website of what a truly sustainable town could look like (just Google ‘Greenpeace Efficiencity’)
This town is not dependent on a distant nuclear power station, but is producing its own energy -some of it through wind, some from other sources.
The more community power schemes this city has, the more democratic its energy supply system would be.
In this town energy sellers, who had made the initial investment, would make a profit, landowners would receive leasing fees, community businesses would have energy security, local people would get jobs, consumers would receive electricity at competitive prices and communities would have clean air and confidence in the future.
Yes, the Greens have lost this particular argument, but let’s not agonize, let’s organise!
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shame on the vortex nimbys
they dont like electricity???
i like the idea of a nuclear or coal fired power station in their village instead, see how they like that
i hope they have their electricity cut off for a few days because they dont know how lucky they are in this country i tell you
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the headline should be tories against renewables!
In North Shropshire Owen Paterson, conservative MP is blocking wind power, in Shrewsbury, Daniel Kawzynski, Conservative MP is against energy from waste, in South Shropshire, Phillip Dunne, Conservative MP is blocking a biomass power station.
Clearly Conservatives love coal, they are against energy independance for Shropshire and modern low carbon green technologies which will help create jobs in Shropshire.
Clearly Conservatives are in the past and are not serious about climate change
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