Energy4All has been sponsored with public funds by East Midlands Development Agency to investigate possible alternative energy provision.
Its interpretation of this remit appears to have manifested itself solely in the development of a single win
d farm in a single location – Gartree.
It is dressing this up as a community project, yet seems to find it very difficult to define “community”.
As far as it is possible to ascertain, community to them is any group from any place (not necessarily local) which has the funds and wants to invest in it: not for environmental reasons but simply for financial return (again funded by the public). Many people find the look of heavy industrial machinery completely incongruous in the countryside, increasing global evidence indicates that the proximity of Gartree to residential areas could impose health and safety risks and the spell of freezing fog that blanketed the country in winter proved that on-shore wind turbines do nothing to secure our energy.
If Energy4All was sincere it would be using this money to encourage or facilitate the reduction of our carbon footprint: solar panels, photovoltaic roof panels, geothermal heat exchange systems etc. Indeed, if either the Government or the local council were genuine in their approach we would be seeing major changes in building regulations comparable with a real desire to ensure a green and pleasant future for all our children and grandchildren.
Instead, our money is being used to foist a project on us that we haven’t asked for, that the huge majority do not want, that will do very little for our energy needs and that may even prove detrimental to our physical and psychological well-being.
Energy4All is holding two public exhibitions, at Lubenham (July 7) and Harborough (July 8) focusing on financial investment.
It will try to use this to indicate that it has full public support in its planning application. Let’s make sure it is aware of the majority opinion and encourage people to go along and make it clear they don’t want it.
Margaret Wright,
Chairman of Foxton Parish Council,
Swingbridge Street,
Foxton.
