Anti wind farm campaign goes to Westminster
SDLT spokesman Joseph Cresswell
RURAL communities threatened by plans to build wind farms on their doorstep have been thrown a lifeline this week when members of the Stop Dorcas Lane Turbines (SDLT) group took their case to Westminster to meet Energy Secretary, Ed Davey.
In a meeting brokered by local resident and Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP, Mr Davey specifically discussed the Dorcas Lane application with SDLT and Aylesbury Vale councillors.
Then, later in the week, energy minister John Hayes made headlines by claiming that when it came to wind farms, “Enough is enough.”
“I can’t single-handedly build a new Jerusalem,” continued Mr Hayes, “but I can protect our green and pleasant land. If you look at what has been built, what has consent and what is in the planning system, much of it will not get through and will get rejected. I’m saying enough is enough.”
Joseph Cresswell, of SDLT, welcomed the week’s events. He said: “These are strong words from a government minister,” he said. “While it’s fair to say Mr Davey has to be seen to take a step back from the emotion of all this, we regard this week’s meeting and further debate as a real positive shift in our cause. As far as we’re concerned, enough is certainly enough.”
Aylesbury Vale District Council is not expected to discuss the Dorcas Lane plan until at least the end of the year as it is waiting for survey results to come back from applicants, Force Nine Energy, before making a decision. The council’s own strategy for dealing with wind turbine development will not be ready for implementation until 2014.
*South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth, which supports the wind farm scheme, has just delivered more leaflets on wind and climate change to villages in a bid to persuade residents to back the plan. A copy of the leaflet is on the group’s website www.southbedsfoe.co.uk.
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Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
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