NEWS FROM BLoW

Well, who would have thought it? BLoW (Back Local Windfarms) is a group of people local to the Lenches who, according to their latest press release, were 'horrified by the misleading claims and aggressive attitudes of protesters against the proposed Lenchwick Windfarm.'

So far, so mundane. There are plenty of people who feel nothing but disgust at the way the swivel-eyed nimbies of VVASP have behaved. Fair enough. But BLoW decided to take action. They complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about some of the silly claims being published by VVASP - and they won!

All this is fairly well known in the area. VVASP's literature was branded 'MISLEADING' (just like that, in big capital letters, if you watched 'Midlands Today') by an independent regulator.

VVASP have huffed and puffed and continued to spread their mendacious filth with a misplaced self-righteousness that it truly repellent. Typical nimbies - whether what they say is right or wrong, we are all under orders to believe it in its totality because a bunch of Middle-Class Citizens are saying it.

But while VVASP has been running around the place, headless chicken-like, trying to justify its policy of telling lies, BLoW has gone onto to greater things.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) was hugely impressed by what BLoW had achieved with the ASA ruling. You see, nimby groups like VVASP exist all over the country and they all tell the same lies. A victory against one of these disgraceful gangs is, in a sense, a victory against all such mindless thuggery and dishonest nimbyism.

BWEA were in the process of establishing a new grassroots campaign, 'Embrace My Planet' (go to www.embracemyplanet.com) - a means of empowering local supporters of renewable energy to campaign for wind farms and against nookies. BLoW had set a wonderful example of what intelligent locals can do to the bullies in their neighbourhood.

So BWEA got in touch with BLoW to ask if they could roll out BLoW's ASA complaint model across the country as a whole. If you like, what BLoW did was so brilliant, the BWEA wants all communities in the UK to be able to do the same: to put the nimbies in their place (finally!) and bring an end to the dishonesty of VVASP-type campaigns by following BLoW's example!

As Adam Bell, National Campaign Co-Ordinator at BWEA, said:

'BLoW's efforts in securing the ASA ruling are a great example of how local people can make a difference in securing clean, green and sustainable energy supplies in the UK. This is a tremendous blow against the disinformation campaign being carried out by the well-funded anti-wind lobby.'

A BLoW spokesperson puts it this way:

'Wind turbines are a part of all our futures, and the sooner we can dispense with all this shallow NIMBYism the better for all of us. While the protesters engage in a dishonest and backward- looking debate, BLoW's efforts have placed us right at the forefront of the national drive towards green energy. That's where we believe the Vale should be - at the cutting edge of new technology, not burying our heads in the sand.'

For a recently-formed campaign group, BLoW hasn't done too badly. A fantastic ASA ruling, a killer blow aimed at VVASP, and now a request to advise on a national anti-nimby campaign.

How cool is that? And how petty-minded and so-last-century does VVASP seem in comparison?

If you want to contact BLoW you can email them at: BLoW@backlocalwindfarms.co.uk.