The moment this was sent in we just had to pass it on. Please click on the link and have a read:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8257153.stm
Apparently, most of his villagers didn't really understand what he was trying to do - a situation we can relate to locally. But at least they didn't try to stop him!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
THE WONDER OF WIND
George W. Bush is an oil man, through and through. Had the oil lobby decided it wanted its own man to be President of the United States of America (which, let's face it, is essentially what happened), then they couldn't have found a more sympathetic guy.
Even so, in 2008 - the last year of Bush's presidency - windfarms accounted for more than half of all net electricity-generating capacity added in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy's figures.
And, somewhat amazingly, Texas generates more windpower than any other state. That's right: the oil state, former Governor one George W. Bush, is way ahead of the rest in making use of the power of the wind.
So they might know something over there about the so-called 'inefficiency' of wind turbines.
If anything, the problem can be that the turbines are too efficient. On occasion, utilities have 'dialed down' some of their fossil-fuel power plants because the turbines are producing so much electricity.
(Let's compare this with France, which is mostly nuclear powered, and which had to purchase electricity from the UK this summer when temperatures of 30 degrees forced them to 'dial down' their nuclear power stations for safety reasons.)
As the Wall Street Journal reports, the massive growth of windpower in the States has led utilities to develop more accurate meteorological forecasts in order to predict fluctuations in wind strength. The race is also on to develop smart ways of storing the surplus electricity generated by turbines at times for use when the wind isn't blowing quite so strongly.
The system was originally devised for fossil-fuel based power generation. The switch to renewables is forcing new approaches and new systems to be developed. A mix of renewable sources (wind, wave, tide, solar, etc.), combined with greater energy efficiency and smart new systems, is what will deliver our power in the future. The so-called 'inefficiency' of windfarms is a canard, and the issues surrounding fluctuations in wind and so on are being addressed. And to suggest that wind turbines are 'expensive' is to pretend that coal and nuclear power are cheap.
It has to be said, though, that if a state like Texas can embrace windpower with such aplomb, it's a bit embarrassing that the UK is still struggling to do so. The only reason for this are the nimby protests. The rest of the world is surging ahead. We're falling behind. It's the self-interest, short-termism and downright absence of logic demonstrated by myth-mongering nimby groups that is holding us back.
Makes you proud to be British, doesn't it?
Even so, in 2008 - the last year of Bush's presidency - windfarms accounted for more than half of all net electricity-generating capacity added in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy's figures.
And, somewhat amazingly, Texas generates more windpower than any other state. That's right: the oil state, former Governor one George W. Bush, is way ahead of the rest in making use of the power of the wind.
So they might know something over there about the so-called 'inefficiency' of wind turbines.
If anything, the problem can be that the turbines are too efficient. On occasion, utilities have 'dialed down' some of their fossil-fuel power plants because the turbines are producing so much electricity.
(Let's compare this with France, which is mostly nuclear powered, and which had to purchase electricity from the UK this summer when temperatures of 30 degrees forced them to 'dial down' their nuclear power stations for safety reasons.)
As the Wall Street Journal reports, the massive growth of windpower in the States has led utilities to develop more accurate meteorological forecasts in order to predict fluctuations in wind strength. The race is also on to develop smart ways of storing the surplus electricity generated by turbines at times for use when the wind isn't blowing quite so strongly.
The system was originally devised for fossil-fuel based power generation. The switch to renewables is forcing new approaches and new systems to be developed. A mix of renewable sources (wind, wave, tide, solar, etc.), combined with greater energy efficiency and smart new systems, is what will deliver our power in the future. The so-called 'inefficiency' of windfarms is a canard, and the issues surrounding fluctuations in wind and so on are being addressed. And to suggest that wind turbines are 'expensive' is to pretend that coal and nuclear power are cheap.
It has to be said, though, that if a state like Texas can embrace windpower with such aplomb, it's a bit embarrassing that the UK is still struggling to do so. The only reason for this are the nimby protests. The rest of the world is surging ahead. We're falling behind. It's the self-interest, short-termism and downright absence of logic demonstrated by myth-mongering nimby groups that is holding us back.
Makes you proud to be British, doesn't it?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
SOME PERSPECTIVE
Here's a treat for you.
Follow this link to find a number of videos examining various windfarms and highlighting the idiocy of the nimby protests:
http://www.youtube.com/user/windpowerrocks
Enjoy!
Follow this link to find a number of videos examining various windfarms and highlighting the idiocy of the nimby protests:
http://www.youtube.com/user/windpowerrocks
Enjoy!
STATEMENT
Following yesterday's unauthorised comment, Mr Davies has asked us to point out that he has also written physics, cosmology and mathematics programmes for the Open University and worked with the Royal Geographical Society in producing an exhibition on the Royal Research Ship Discovery for Dundee Industrial Heritage.
In keeping with the Wind of Change policy of not censoring or moderating comments, however, Mr Davies has insisted that yesterday's comment should not be removed.
As he said to us, "The information given out by a VVASP member in the comment is four or five years out of date. That's actually pretty good, for them."
Mr Davies has been a vocal supporter of Lenchwick Windfarm since all this started and recognises that the nimbies would sooner or later assume that he was responsible for the Wind of Change blog, to which he has made many contributions of research, advice and ideas.
Now the nimbies just have to identify the other contributors (last count: 15) from Harvington, Atch Lench, Church Lench, Sheriffs Lench, Bishampton, Throckmorton, and Norton and Lenchwick.
When we spoke to Mr Davies today about the comment left by a VVASP supporter, and in particular about the suggestion that he might one day write a script about the issue, he laughed. In an email, he went further:
"Funnily enough, the same suggestion was put to me a few months back by a producer on 'The South Bank Show'. I said then what I'll say now - what would be the point?
"With a fair wind, it can take a minimum of two years to get a script idea onto the screen. By then, all this nonsense will have gone away.
"Remember the mobile phone mast frenzy of a few years ago. Everyone wanted mobile phones, and masts had been around for ages. But then suddenly certain middle class areas discovered that they were going to have to have phone masts if they wanted the mobile phone coverage. Instantly, no end of bogus science appeared. There were placards, protests, demonstrations. All based on rumour and hearsay. And then the fuss died down and we all got on with our lives.
"The windfarm issue is exactly the same. Windfarms have been around for ages, but now communities in England are finding that they too will have to do their bit. They want electricity but don't want a clean, green, harmless and efficient windfarm producing it. So what do we get? No end of bogus science, placards, protests, all based on rumour and hearsay.
"This is the end of the nimby era. In a couple of years time, these protests will have gone the way of the mobile phone masts protests. It's just a temporary madness, and it will pass as more and more people wake up to the real issues involved and discover for themselves how beneficial a windfarm can be.
"Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, remarked back in March that 'It is socially unacceptable to be against wind turbines in your area - like not wearing your seatbelt or driving past a zebra crossing.'
"Once people buck their ideas up and stop swallowing nimby propaganda whole, the situation will change. So what would be the point of a script about all this? By the time it was ready for broadcast, the issue will be old hat."
Mr Davies has promised to continue contributing his experience as a researcher to the Wind of Change blog.
In keeping with the Wind of Change policy of not censoring or moderating comments, however, Mr Davies has insisted that yesterday's comment should not be removed.
As he said to us, "The information given out by a VVASP member in the comment is four or five years out of date. That's actually pretty good, for them."
Mr Davies has been a vocal supporter of Lenchwick Windfarm since all this started and recognises that the nimbies would sooner or later assume that he was responsible for the Wind of Change blog, to which he has made many contributions of research, advice and ideas.
Now the nimbies just have to identify the other contributors (last count: 15) from Harvington, Atch Lench, Church Lench, Sheriffs Lench, Bishampton, Throckmorton, and Norton and Lenchwick.
When we spoke to Mr Davies today about the comment left by a VVASP supporter, and in particular about the suggestion that he might one day write a script about the issue, he laughed. In an email, he went further:
"Funnily enough, the same suggestion was put to me a few months back by a producer on 'The South Bank Show'. I said then what I'll say now - what would be the point?
"With a fair wind, it can take a minimum of two years to get a script idea onto the screen. By then, all this nonsense will have gone away.
"Remember the mobile phone mast frenzy of a few years ago. Everyone wanted mobile phones, and masts had been around for ages. But then suddenly certain middle class areas discovered that they were going to have to have phone masts if they wanted the mobile phone coverage. Instantly, no end of bogus science appeared. There were placards, protests, demonstrations. All based on rumour and hearsay. And then the fuss died down and we all got on with our lives.
"The windfarm issue is exactly the same. Windfarms have been around for ages, but now communities in England are finding that they too will have to do their bit. They want electricity but don't want a clean, green, harmless and efficient windfarm producing it. So what do we get? No end of bogus science, placards, protests, all based on rumour and hearsay.
"This is the end of the nimby era. In a couple of years time, these protests will have gone the way of the mobile phone masts protests. It's just a temporary madness, and it will pass as more and more people wake up to the real issues involved and discover for themselves how beneficial a windfarm can be.
"Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, remarked back in March that 'It is socially unacceptable to be against wind turbines in your area - like not wearing your seatbelt or driving past a zebra crossing.'
"Once people buck their ideas up and stop swallowing nimby propaganda whole, the situation will change. So what would be the point of a script about all this? By the time it was ready for broadcast, the issue will be old hat."
Mr Davies has promised to continue contributing his experience as a researcher to the Wind of Change blog.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
PLACARD FEVER - LATEST
It can be so difficult explaining to a nimby the difference between public and private. They're okay with the 'private' - i.e., belongs to them. But they struggle with the 'public' because they think that belongs to them as well.
Take this image, sent in recently. Somebody must have seen the Men-At-Work sign and assumed that it was theirs to deface.
The struggle to understand what is theirs and what isn't lies behind much of the windfarm debate.
For instance, several people seem to imagine that when they bought their houses in the Lenches - not so very long ago, in most cases - they also purchased a field several hundred metres away.
They don't really want that field (too much work), but they reserve the right to decide what happens in it.
In other words, it's not theirs. But they like to think that it is.
Similarly, there are some who believe that when they bought their house, they also bought the view. And that it would remain forever unchanged.
Who told them that??
No one owns a view.
Lenchwick Windfarm, when it is up and running, will cleanly and quietly generate enough electricity to power several thousand homes. Till then, though, we'll keep hearing from several dozen homes who think they own the area. Which they don't. And who think that the view (which they don't own) is more important, in the grand scheme of things, than those households which will be powered by the windfarm.
And more public property will be defaced by people who think that they own it.
So - a warning. Don't stand still for long in the Lenches. Someone is bound to think that you belong to them and stick a placard on you.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS
Exciting times!
This week, VVASP finally remembered that they were supposed to be 'Pro-Renewables'. Their spokesperson gave a ringing endorsement of windpower ... as long as it is out at sea, where no one in the Lenches can see it.
The endorsement came as the result of a heartfelt and effective letter, written by two local teenagers and printed in the Evesham Journal. This is not the first time that the youth of the area have engaged in the windfarm debate on the side of the angels - and, let's face it, it's their voice that matters most.
For a start, they haven't fallen into the trap of thinking they own the views from their windows (a quick look at title deeds should disabuse the selfish nimbies of the Lenches of that misguided notion). More importantly, it is their generation which will have to cope with the damage caused by the nimby generation.
Unusually, though, the newspaper editor offered VVASP an immediate right to reply. Perhaps he was seeking to avoid a torrent of barely literate, spume-spattered nonsense emanating from brainwashed nimbies. Perhaps he knew that if he gave the VVASP a right to reply, they'd say something typically stupid and wrong.
VVASP took the opportunity to witter about the 'information' on their website (mostly non-existent, the rest is just hogwash) and to say, "If they can put wind farms offshore I'm 100 per cent behind it."
Now they only have to get tractors, combine harvesters, airplanes, helicopters, motorbikes, dumper trucks, lorries, 4x4s and music festivals sited offshore and they can look forward to a quiet life.
A clue to the kind of propaganda VVASP has been showing to the ego-warriors of Lench also came to light this week. Judging by some of the fantastical gibberish being spouted by VVASP supporters, the nimby group has been screening 'The War of the Worlds'. Little old ladies do seem to believe that offshore windfarms are marching onshore to clutter up the English countryside (they never seem to worry when windfarms are constructed in Wales or Scotland) and to fire their evil death-rays into middle class homes.
Actually, Peter Luff MP seems to be partly responsible for this. His line would appear to be that windfarms were developed for offshore use and are only now being built onshore. This is a slightly bizarre reading of recent history. And, thinking about it, given that the nimbies have been brainwashed into droning that onshore windfarms are 'too expensive' all the time, offshore windfarms would hardly seem to be the solution.
But VVASP and consistency are like Hugh Hefner and monogamy. Peter Luff has previously described VVASP's claims as 'overly dramatic' and appears privately to feel that Lenchwick Windfarm will go ahead. So his public statements are there only to stroke the egos of the nimbies and shouldn't be taken too seriously.
This past week, ScottishPower Renewables made it possible for locals to find out more about the proposed windfarm. They were greeted with some fine displays of traditional rural pursuits - such as Abusing the Visitors, Playing Loud Noises Till the Police Arrive, Making Up Stories, and of course there was an Olympic standard Village Idiot competition. No winner has yet been declared (the competition was just too intense), but there were some firm favourites.
One guy kept banging on that windfarms should be built 'on the edges of towns'. He clearly hasn't heard of such places as Oxford, Glasgow, Rochdale ...
(The latter, by the way, is a classic example of nimby nonsense being ignored, even though the three main political parties jumped on the nimby bandwagon in a daft attempt at winning votes. The Scout Moor windfarm of 25 turbines is now happily, and quietly, supplying enough electricity to power half of Rochdale.)
Harvington seems to have been the quietest of the public information sessions - partly because there must be plenty of people in Harvington who now wonder whether the windfarm has got anything at all to do with them, and partly because the VVASP Nazis were saving their energies for the following evening.
Church Lench saw the height of nimby irrationality and hostility, for which the VVASP ringleaders are entirely culpable. By then, though, the BBC had lost interest in their little protest.
Overall, the public information sessions would appear to have been a remarkable success ... for supporters of the windfarm. Not only did the VVASP tactics convert several more locals into active supporters of this harmless and vital development, but early indications are that the sessions revealed a strong body of opinion in favour of Lenchwick Windfarm. Despite the nimbies' best efforts in lying and bullying everyone around them into empty-headed agreement that windfarms are 'noisy' (not true), 'expensive' (compared with what? Nuclear?), 'inefficient' (rubbish) and hazardous to house prices (balls), a surprisingly large number of people have maintained their independence, weighed up the facts, and decided that the windfarm is a Good Thing.
So - a strong base of support for Lenchwick Windfarm and lasting shame for VVASP.
Wind of Change is now eager to hear from anyone with a good, practical solution to the problem of disposing of all those ghastly nimby placards which are littering up Sheriffs Lench, Church Lench and Atch Lench. They're already an aesthetic nightmare, and we can't afford for them to become an environmental nightmare too. VVASP won't have concerned themselves with this because THE EARTH AND ALL THINGS IN IT IS THEIRS TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH, GOT IT?
But those of us with an eye on the future are going to have to advise them on the safe disposal of all their silly placards. Dumping them and burning them are both out of the question.
Any suggestions?
This week, VVASP finally remembered that they were supposed to be 'Pro-Renewables'. Their spokesperson gave a ringing endorsement of windpower ... as long as it is out at sea, where no one in the Lenches can see it.
The endorsement came as the result of a heartfelt and effective letter, written by two local teenagers and printed in the Evesham Journal. This is not the first time that the youth of the area have engaged in the windfarm debate on the side of the angels - and, let's face it, it's their voice that matters most.
For a start, they haven't fallen into the trap of thinking they own the views from their windows (a quick look at title deeds should disabuse the selfish nimbies of the Lenches of that misguided notion). More importantly, it is their generation which will have to cope with the damage caused by the nimby generation.
Unusually, though, the newspaper editor offered VVASP an immediate right to reply. Perhaps he was seeking to avoid a torrent of barely literate, spume-spattered nonsense emanating from brainwashed nimbies. Perhaps he knew that if he gave the VVASP a right to reply, they'd say something typically stupid and wrong.
VVASP took the opportunity to witter about the 'information' on their website (mostly non-existent, the rest is just hogwash) and to say, "If they can put wind farms offshore I'm 100 per cent behind it."
Now they only have to get tractors, combine harvesters, airplanes, helicopters, motorbikes, dumper trucks, lorries, 4x4s and music festivals sited offshore and they can look forward to a quiet life.
A clue to the kind of propaganda VVASP has been showing to the ego-warriors of Lench also came to light this week. Judging by some of the fantastical gibberish being spouted by VVASP supporters, the nimby group has been screening 'The War of the Worlds'. Little old ladies do seem to believe that offshore windfarms are marching onshore to clutter up the English countryside (they never seem to worry when windfarms are constructed in Wales or Scotland) and to fire their evil death-rays into middle class homes.
Actually, Peter Luff MP seems to be partly responsible for this. His line would appear to be that windfarms were developed for offshore use and are only now being built onshore. This is a slightly bizarre reading of recent history. And, thinking about it, given that the nimbies have been brainwashed into droning that onshore windfarms are 'too expensive' all the time, offshore windfarms would hardly seem to be the solution.
But VVASP and consistency are like Hugh Hefner and monogamy. Peter Luff has previously described VVASP's claims as 'overly dramatic' and appears privately to feel that Lenchwick Windfarm will go ahead. So his public statements are there only to stroke the egos of the nimbies and shouldn't be taken too seriously.
This past week, ScottishPower Renewables made it possible for locals to find out more about the proposed windfarm. They were greeted with some fine displays of traditional rural pursuits - such as Abusing the Visitors, Playing Loud Noises Till the Police Arrive, Making Up Stories, and of course there was an Olympic standard Village Idiot competition. No winner has yet been declared (the competition was just too intense), but there were some firm favourites.
One guy kept banging on that windfarms should be built 'on the edges of towns'. He clearly hasn't heard of such places as Oxford, Glasgow, Rochdale ...
(The latter, by the way, is a classic example of nimby nonsense being ignored, even though the three main political parties jumped on the nimby bandwagon in a daft attempt at winning votes. The Scout Moor windfarm of 25 turbines is now happily, and quietly, supplying enough electricity to power half of Rochdale.)
Harvington seems to have been the quietest of the public information sessions - partly because there must be plenty of people in Harvington who now wonder whether the windfarm has got anything at all to do with them, and partly because the VVASP Nazis were saving their energies for the following evening.
Church Lench saw the height of nimby irrationality and hostility, for which the VVASP ringleaders are entirely culpable. By then, though, the BBC had lost interest in their little protest.
Overall, the public information sessions would appear to have been a remarkable success ... for supporters of the windfarm. Not only did the VVASP tactics convert several more locals into active supporters of this harmless and vital development, but early indications are that the sessions revealed a strong body of opinion in favour of Lenchwick Windfarm. Despite the nimbies' best efforts in lying and bullying everyone around them into empty-headed agreement that windfarms are 'noisy' (not true), 'expensive' (compared with what? Nuclear?), 'inefficient' (rubbish) and hazardous to house prices (balls), a surprisingly large number of people have maintained their independence, weighed up the facts, and decided that the windfarm is a Good Thing.
So - a strong base of support for Lenchwick Windfarm and lasting shame for VVASP.
Wind of Change is now eager to hear from anyone with a good, practical solution to the problem of disposing of all those ghastly nimby placards which are littering up Sheriffs Lench, Church Lench and Atch Lench. They're already an aesthetic nightmare, and we can't afford for them to become an environmental nightmare too. VVASP won't have concerned themselves with this because THE EARTH AND ALL THINGS IN IT IS THEIRS TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH, GOT IT?
But those of us with an eye on the future are going to have to advise them on the safe disposal of all their silly placards. Dumping them and burning them are both out of the question.
Any suggestions?
Friday, September 25, 2009
VVASP LIE No. 3
One thing the nimbes can't stand is someone who knows what they're on about.
Recently, a villager walked into the local watering hole and announced that he'd just had a holiday right by a windfarm and he couldn't see what all the fuss was about. That's the very opposite of what VVASP what people to hear. Of course, if they were genuinely 'Providing Information' to allow people to make an 'Informed Decision', such testimony would be rather useful. But VVASP are not there to provide real information. They're there to fill your head with cavity wall insulation.
Vale Villagers Against Sound Practice (VVASP) don't just spread silly rumours and inaccurate information. They go to great lengths to stop the spread of legitimate information.
At one of the recent ScottishPower Renewables' public information sessions, somebody or other was rabbiting VVASP nonsense at a consultant from Dulas, a Wales-based co-operative that advises on environmental projects. This resident kept saying, 'They're noisy, they're expensive!' Which, let's face it, is like marching up to a greengrocer and snarling: 'Oranges are blue and they taste of manure!' Somebody who knew nothing about the subject was telling somebody who knew a lot about the subject a load of old cobblers.
When a member of the public questioned this person's confident assertions, asking how they knew windfarms were noisy - had they ever been to one? - something strange happened.
The individual concerned said nothing. Just the merest nod to another part of the hall, and he was out of there, instantly replaced by a more aggressive member of the nimby gang.
So what were meant to be occasions when local residents could find out from the experts exactly what is being proposed turned into VVASP rallies where no scientific fact was allowed to get in the way. 'Providing Information to the Community', again - or, rather, 'Preventing Information from falling into the hands of the Community'.
Supporters of the windfarm do have a problem here, because even when you're sure of your ground (you've visited a windfarm or two, you've looked into the material, you've engaged your brain), the slipperiness of the protesters can catch you off-guard. They'll say something that is so banal, so outrageous, that the only proper response is to burst out laughing.
But windfarm supporters are polite, gentle people, and when residents are evidently distressed (thanks to VVASP's irresponsible behaviour), they don't want to laugh. They want to help, to reassure.
Sometimes, though, we can't. Take the latest VVASP lie. You can tell that it's a lie because it's growing all the time, like a dark cloud over the Lenches. Nitwits are competing with each other to see who can make the silliest statement, who can get most worked up about it.
And the first time a sensible person hears it, they're floored.
On Monday, it would seem, everybody's house had lost 30% of its value because of this windfarm. Those of us who were unaware of this - including local estate agents - only had worse to come. Because by Thursday, the predicted plummet in property values had reached 52%.
At this rate, by the middle of October every desirable residence in the Lenches will be worth about 20p (an investment opportunity if ever there was one). Come Christmas, and we'll have to stump up seven times the original value of our house just to get someone to take it off our hands!
You have to admit it: VVASP know how to get people where it hurts. Forget about whether there's any truth in it or not (there isn't, obviously) - the nimbies really know how to mess with their neighbours' heads. And they're not afraid to do it.
Well, let's run through the facts again. Why not?
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (who, as we all know, all work for windfarm companies) have looked into this. In some areas, in the past, estate agents did voice opinions that an imminent windfarm might affect prices, although none of them could find evidence that it had. The RICS concluded that there was no hard evidence at all of windfarms harming the local property market.
Oxford Brookes University looked into this. They found that in one area in Cornwall, a few terraced houses were cheaper than elsewhere. But all those people dwelling in the famous terraced houses of Lenchland needn't worry, because the study then found that those houses were ex-MoD properties and were going cheap anyway. Again, no evidence of windfarms having an adverse effect.
A huge study in America, covering six years, of over 25,000 property transactions and ten large windfarm developments came up with some extraordinary results.
In the vast majority of cases, properties in proximity to a windfarm ROSE IN VALUE faster than comparable properties elsewhere.
What???
You mean - houses in the Lenches might actually INCREASE in value, thanks to the windfarm?
Well, that's what the largest study conducted so far would seem to suggest.
But if VVASP are 'Providing Information' to the community, why does nobody know this? Why does everybody seem to believe that their house is rapidly heading towards being worth next to nothing?
You'd have to ask them that. Presumably, the vision of all their neighbours descending into panic over a completely fictitious house price alarm amuses VVASP far more than the idea of them doing rather well out of the windfarm.
Or maybe the robots of VVASP have a plan to scare the Lenches' residents so much that they'll be able to snap up lots of lovely properties for development. Who knows.
But one thing is clear - if we stick to the facts, that is. All this guff about your house being worth 30% less, or 52% less, or 189% less, is sheer codswallop.
Isn't it nice of VVASP, though, to make you think that your house is worth nothing?
Recently, a villager walked into the local watering hole and announced that he'd just had a holiday right by a windfarm and he couldn't see what all the fuss was about. That's the very opposite of what VVASP what people to hear. Of course, if they were genuinely 'Providing Information' to allow people to make an 'Informed Decision', such testimony would be rather useful. But VVASP are not there to provide real information. They're there to fill your head with cavity wall insulation.
Vale Villagers Against Sound Practice (VVASP) don't just spread silly rumours and inaccurate information. They go to great lengths to stop the spread of legitimate information.
At one of the recent ScottishPower Renewables' public information sessions, somebody or other was rabbiting VVASP nonsense at a consultant from Dulas, a Wales-based co-operative that advises on environmental projects. This resident kept saying, 'They're noisy, they're expensive!' Which, let's face it, is like marching up to a greengrocer and snarling: 'Oranges are blue and they taste of manure!' Somebody who knew nothing about the subject was telling somebody who knew a lot about the subject a load of old cobblers.
When a member of the public questioned this person's confident assertions, asking how they knew windfarms were noisy - had they ever been to one? - something strange happened.
The individual concerned said nothing. Just the merest nod to another part of the hall, and he was out of there, instantly replaced by a more aggressive member of the nimby gang.
So what were meant to be occasions when local residents could find out from the experts exactly what is being proposed turned into VVASP rallies where no scientific fact was allowed to get in the way. 'Providing Information to the Community', again - or, rather, 'Preventing Information from falling into the hands of the Community'.
Supporters of the windfarm do have a problem here, because even when you're sure of your ground (you've visited a windfarm or two, you've looked into the material, you've engaged your brain), the slipperiness of the protesters can catch you off-guard. They'll say something that is so banal, so outrageous, that the only proper response is to burst out laughing.
But windfarm supporters are polite, gentle people, and when residents are evidently distressed (thanks to VVASP's irresponsible behaviour), they don't want to laugh. They want to help, to reassure.
Sometimes, though, we can't. Take the latest VVASP lie. You can tell that it's a lie because it's growing all the time, like a dark cloud over the Lenches. Nitwits are competing with each other to see who can make the silliest statement, who can get most worked up about it.
And the first time a sensible person hears it, they're floored.
On Monday, it would seem, everybody's house had lost 30% of its value because of this windfarm. Those of us who were unaware of this - including local estate agents - only had worse to come. Because by Thursday, the predicted plummet in property values had reached 52%.
At this rate, by the middle of October every desirable residence in the Lenches will be worth about 20p (an investment opportunity if ever there was one). Come Christmas, and we'll have to stump up seven times the original value of our house just to get someone to take it off our hands!
You have to admit it: VVASP know how to get people where it hurts. Forget about whether there's any truth in it or not (there isn't, obviously) - the nimbies really know how to mess with their neighbours' heads. And they're not afraid to do it.
Well, let's run through the facts again. Why not?
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (who, as we all know, all work for windfarm companies) have looked into this. In some areas, in the past, estate agents did voice opinions that an imminent windfarm might affect prices, although none of them could find evidence that it had. The RICS concluded that there was no hard evidence at all of windfarms harming the local property market.
Oxford Brookes University looked into this. They found that in one area in Cornwall, a few terraced houses were cheaper than elsewhere. But all those people dwelling in the famous terraced houses of Lenchland needn't worry, because the study then found that those houses were ex-MoD properties and were going cheap anyway. Again, no evidence of windfarms having an adverse effect.
A huge study in America, covering six years, of over 25,000 property transactions and ten large windfarm developments came up with some extraordinary results.
In the vast majority of cases, properties in proximity to a windfarm ROSE IN VALUE faster than comparable properties elsewhere.
What???
You mean - houses in the Lenches might actually INCREASE in value, thanks to the windfarm?
Well, that's what the largest study conducted so far would seem to suggest.
But if VVASP are 'Providing Information' to the community, why does nobody know this? Why does everybody seem to believe that their house is rapidly heading towards being worth next to nothing?
You'd have to ask them that. Presumably, the vision of all their neighbours descending into panic over a completely fictitious house price alarm amuses VVASP far more than the idea of them doing rather well out of the windfarm.
Or maybe the robots of VVASP have a plan to scare the Lenches' residents so much that they'll be able to snap up lots of lovely properties for development. Who knows.
But one thing is clear - if we stick to the facts, that is. All this guff about your house being worth 30% less, or 52% less, or 189% less, is sheer codswallop.
Isn't it nice of VVASP, though, to make you think that your house is worth nothing?
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