TRYING TO BE DEMOCRATIC

Oooops - this somehow slipped through the net.

The Evesham Journal website has a piece dated Thursday 16 July. This reported on the government's plans for increased energy generation from renewables and wind especially.

At the end of the article, the chair of Church Lench parish council 'denied the council had transferred any funds to the VVASP (Vale Villagers Against Scottish Power) working group set up to fight plans for a wind farm in the Lenches, and insisted the council had "tried to be as democratic as possible".'

I don't think that final paragraph made it into the paper edition of the Journal. Which is a pity - because it begs certain questions.

The 'Windfarm Working Party' was set up by Church Lench Parish Council. This was not Church Lench PC in its 'original' form - those parish councillors were sticklers for following the guidelines as regards planning. So VVASP protesters yelled and screamed at them until the majority of the sticklers resigned, giving supporters of VVASP the chance to take over Church Lench Parish Council.

Some of those parish councillors have since toned down their public opposition to the windfarm, replacing anti-windfarm placards with anti-windfarm stickers, for example, but it's pretty darn obvious where these councillors stand on the issue.

Through their 'Windfarm Working Party', Church Lench PC has solicited funds from neighbouring parish councils in order to carry out vague information gathering and sharing activities. The funds they have requested are to be accounted for retrospectively. But what is clear is that studies have been or are being commissioned by the working party to replicate the work carried out by ScottishPower Renewables' contractors.

In other words, this is not so much information gathering as a rather paranoid kind of copycat work. Church Lench Parish Council is presumably hoping to gather data which does not tally with that produced by ScottishPower Renewables. The only reason for doing so is to provide grounds for objections when the windfarm planning application is submitted.

So - when the chair of Church Lench PC claims that no money has been transferred to VVASP, he's probably telling the truth ... but omitting to add that the money is being used by the parish council to carry out anti-windfarm activity on VVASP's behalf!

'Trying to be democratic' is also an interesting phrase. Does it mean that Church Lench PC is doing its best to be a bit democratic - which is like trying to be a bit pregnant? Democracy is democracy. Okay, a slim majority of residents in Church Lench did express opposition to the windfarm, but by pre-empting the planning application, the parish councillors are failing in their duty to remain studiously impartial until they actually have a planning application to consider.

Let's face it - it's perfectly obvious that Church Lench PC made up its mind about the plans way back, at the same time as the original parish council was forced to resign to make way for people who were steadfastly opposed to the windfarm. The newer members of Church Lench PC have hardly been coy about their opposition, and they have requested money from their neighbouring parish councils in order to try to find grounds to oppose the plans when they finally arrive.

That's democracy, Church Lench-style, for you.