AT LAST ...

Here's some good news.

Members of the local (Evesham) Transition Town initiative are off to see a windfarm.

Brilliant!

So, quickly: the Transition Towns Initiative started in the South-West and has running for a wee while now. It aims to prepare local communities for the low carbon economy and the consequences of peak oil by promoting sustainability, local produce, sensible transport ... you know the sort of thing. Basically, it's good and long overdue.

A windfarm is a quiet and harmless development designed to tap a massive renewables resource in order to provide cheap, clean, green electricity for thousands of consumers.

The one the Evesham group is off to see is Westmill Windfarm near Swindon (check out the website here: http://www.westmill.coop/westmill_home.asp)

One of the things that makes Westmill interesting is that it is owned by a co-operative. Not that this would make the slightest bit of difference to our local nasty nimbies in the Lenches because they don't really understand the principle of co-operation. It's also interesting because, go back just a few blogposts and you'll see what someone living very close to Westmill Windfarm has to say about it, noise-wise. There isn't any.

We should be glad - relieved, even - that the Transition Town people are finally taking this windfarm business seriously. They've so far given the impression of steering well clear of the whole issue. Why? Well, low carbon economy, peak oil, sustainability and all that, but - you don't want to upset the raving nutters of VVASP because they are spectacularly irresponsible and cannot be trusted one bit.

It's probable that the Transition Town people feared that, if they got involved in the discussion about Lenchwick Windfarm (presumably, if they're true to their beliefs, on the right side - i.e. all in favour of this perfectly sane development) they would incur the senseless wrath of some very twisted people whose sputum has been known to eat through glass and whose terrorist tactics are sadly only too well-known in the vicinity.

VVASP started out down the wrong road by lying their heads off from the very start. That's meant that (apart from going a bit quiet at times) they've just had to keep on lying. So the intervention of some intelligent, educated Transition Town people is only going to lead to yet more back-biting, mindless raving and utter dishonesty from the dimbies.

But how good will it be to have more people who have taken the trouble to visit a windfarm and come back excited by the prospect of having one nearby? Another group who know for a fact that VVASP lies about windfarms being noisy and harmful are total rubbish? A pressure group that actually knows what it's talking about (unlike the VVASP goons) and can (in it's all too quiet way) dispute the idiotic, misleading and disingenuous claims of the nookies?

Little by little, friends, we inch our way towards sanity (as long as we don't count that idiot new MP for Redditch, of course).