Shipham voting closes today
Voting in the Shipham village poll closes today.... So anyone wishing to vote needs to get a move on!
However, what is not clear at present is how open the vote counting will be and in what form the results will be announced. So far the Parish Council have not responded to our request to be present during the count and we have not been invited to attend any meetings to discuss the result.
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Shipham villagers asked vote on turbine scheme
Residents of Shipham village (near Chedder in Somerset) have been sent a voting form by their Parish Council asking whether they are in favour or against the proposal to install two mid-size wind turbines at the quarry site on Callow Hill.
Unfortunately, from our perspective, the voting paper presents a somewhat negative list of issues and does not put forward the positive case for the scheme or describe any of its benefits. There are also some slight inaccuracies that we hope to correct at the bottom of this page. Furthermore, on their dedicated web page the PC has chosen only to include documents that are biased against wind turbines.
Sadly, the PC has nothing positive to say about wind energy at all. For example, there is no mention that our two public meetings on the proposals have revealed the majority of opinion expressed was supportive, with 65% in favour.
It's also important to remember that this vote is not the definitive say in whether the scheme finally goes ahead. If you agree in principle but have some specific concerns - everyone will have the opportunity to comment further if a planning application is to be submitted. Its OK to say yes now and change your mind later!
Talbot farm public meeting held
Last night saw approximately 20 local residents attend our public meeting to discuss the Talbot Farm wind turbine.
While the audience as a whole were generally in support of the scheme three particular issues were raised:
Second Shipham public meeting held
A second public meeting was held recently to update the residents of Shipham village on the progress of the proposed Shipham wind turbine scheme and to further measure the level of support and backing locally.
Generally the response was still overwhelmingly in favour of the scheme with support from 65% of the residents who attended.
In response, Shipham Parish Council have decided to constitute a wind turbine working group to further investigate community opinion with their conclusions to be published by the end of March 2011.
DistGen is pleased to see local democracy in action and hopes that the level of support received to date is mirrored in the wider community. With backing from the Parish Council, Shipham village could join the elite club of UK villages that are presently benefiting from generous government subsidies the onshore community wind projects.
Talbot Farm public meeting planned
A public consultation meeting for the proposed wind turbine at Talbot Farm will be hosted by DistGen staff on the evening of Thursday 3rd March 2011.
The exact time and location is still TBC but likely to be Hinton village hall around 7pm.
There will be a brief presentation followed by a Q&A session plus a series of large scale display boards showing visual impact, predicted noise emissions and much more. Distgen staff will be on hand to provide additional information regarding specific technical questions.
Castle Farm development halted
Development of the Castle Farm wind turbine has unfortunately been halted this week due a legal dispute between the current and former owners of the farm. As a result we have been forced to cease all activity.
Naturally we are very disappointed that the scheme is now not going to be implemented since it would have bought valuable extra income to the Parish, provided the farm with badly needed financial stability and put East Farleigh on the map as an eco-village.
Full planning permission was granted in January 2011.
UPDATE (25/02/2011):
Since the Kent Messenger picked up on this story last week, Peter (the farmer) has received numerous calls and messages from friends and local residents who have expressed their disappointment that the project has been halted. It would seem the assertions by some that "no-one in the village wants it" were greatly exaggerated.
Castle Farm granted full planning permission
In a well attended meeting of the Maidstone Borough Planning committee this evening, permission was granted for the Castle Farm wind turbine.
The vote was tight at 7 to 6 in favour due to a number of councilors who could not be moved from their position that any visual impact was too much - despite backing from the planning officer and a general consensus that a rejection would more than likely be overturned at appeal.Read more
Competition for Russian oil increases
With the opening of a new oil pipeline from the worlds number one oil exporter, Russia, to the number one oil consumer, China, signals a number of worrying trends.
The fact that Russia overtook Saudia Aradia in 2009 marks the recognition that production there has probably peaked and is now in decline. Saudi was long known as the "swing producer" picking up the slack as one by one, other oil producing fields went into decline.
Secondly, the flow of oil to China means that Western Europe will be in competition with the worlds new economic powerhouse. As oil prices continue to rise can Europe afford a bidding war with China?
Lastly, we've already seen how the Russians can behave when, in 2009 they simply turned off gas supplies to the Ukraine because of "payment disputes".
Shipham 2nd public meeting scheduled
The community project at Shipham continues to develop with some recent developments from the proposals originally presented back in the summer of 2010:
- Location
- Wind turbines proposed
The Shipham project page has already bee updated to reflect the changes, however a 2nd public meeting has been scheduled to discuss the changes and present revised visual and noise impact data. The meeting will be held at Shipham Village Hall at 7pm on Thursday the 13th January 2011.
Are we there yet? Petrol prices hit new highs.
According to BBC News online petrol prices have reached new all time highs with a litre of unleaded now averaging nearly £1.22 and diesel at nearly £1.26.
Fresh increases are expected in January 2011 when higher VAT rates kick in.
Oh, and don't forget gas and electricity price increases of between 7% and 10% have been announced by British Gas and Scottish & Southern.
Added together this makes renewable energy look cheaper every day.