LET'S BE FRANK

Frank Hill is unrepentant.

As you may remember, Mr Hill is chair of the Worcestershire branch of CPRE. He has been fooled by the loons of VVASP into supporting their cause.

Even though this has led to the resignation of at least three local members of CPRE Worcestershire, Frank Hill insists that he's done the right thing. For a start, with 15 members in the Lenches (including three parish councils), he feels that he had to support the 'majority view' or risk further resignations.

Hmmnn ... do you detect something vaguely Iranian about that phrase 'the majority view'? After all, as we know, only in Loony Lench - sorry, the parish of Church Lench - was there a majority opposed to the windfarm, and even then it was a pretty slim majority (57%). In the other parishes, the majority of those consulted by their parish councils were NOT opposed to the turbines.

Typically, VVASP has misrepresented, as they always do, the extent of their grassroots support. What is more, it's one thing for Frank Hill to insist that the parish councils are opposed to the windfarm, but another to acknowledge that Church Lench Parish Council was bullied into resigning en masse so that a new bunch, committed to fighting ScottishPower's proposals, could take over - a low trick they tried, unsuccessfully, to repeat elsewhere.

See what I mean about Iranian-style democracy (or the kind that Mr Robert Mugabe believes in)? The majority of locals are NOT opposed to the windfarm.

In defending his misinformed decision, Frank Hill spouts the usual guff about windfarms. Yes, he's in favour of them, as long as they're not around here. By his own admission, we would need thousands of these turbines, up and down the land, for the government's renewable energy targets to be met - so his answer is, don't put any up in Worcestershire.

Either they're needed, which means we should have some, or they're not, which means there's no need for them anywhere. You can't have it both ways. The standard VVASP gobbledegook - i.e. pro-renewable energy, as long as it's somewhere else - is meaningless. It betrays the real motives behind VVASP's campaign. Selfishness. Ignorance. Property values.

Frank Hill's trump card is a masterpiece of VVASP-type nonsense. Even though the turbines don't work (yeah, right), the blade-tips can travel at 150 mph. This, Mr Hill insists, must be killing small birds. Okay, so the RSPB doesn't have a problem with windfarms any more, and in fact has called for a massive increase in the number of turbines and short shrift for the kind of self-centred zanies who oppose them, but Frank Hill knows better. Small birds may be dying in their millions, shredded mercilessly by these wildly spinning blades, and we'll never be sure because THERE'S NO EVIDENCE.

That's right. No evidence that wind turbines pulverise small birds. How sinister is that? It's a conspiracy, that's what it is. All these small birds vanishing without trace, and without anyone noticing! Something must be done!

Mr Hill can squirm as much as he likes. He can reach out in all directions to find some weasly justifications for his silly decision. He can kid himself that he's only reflecting the views of the people, and he can fantasise about his imaginary disappearing birds. But it makes no difference, in the end.

He has been conned by VVASP. And he's going to look pretty silly when all their lies are exposed as self-serving hogwash.