A CALL TO ARMS

Hi folks!

Wind of Change has been a bit quiet lately. This is because there was some extremely bad news back in the summer. ScottishPower Renewables decided not to appeal the planning decision which, thanks to the crazen boobs of Wychavon District Council, denied the community a valuable and attractive resource - namely, one rather magnificent windfarm.

The reasons given for the Council's decision were nonsensical. Given that polls consistently show that the majority of Britons support wind power, and that the majority of people in Worcestershire want windfarms, and that the most ardent supporters of wind energy are those who live near windfarms, and given the study commissioned by the local authority that Church Lench was the ideal site for a windfarm, it seemed a little bit strange that the misinformed council members should have decided that a few reckless and dishonest nimbies were right.

In other words, surveys, polls, scientific studies, common sense and the weight of evidence counted for nothing. But the fanatics of VVASP with their falsehoods and hysteria were right.

You could say that four people managed to deprive thousands of cheap, clean, green electricity. They even prevented their neighbours from benefitting through the mini property boom which usually follows on from the installation of a windfarm. They lied, hectored, harrassed, harangued, posed, postured, screamed and shouted. And rather than defending democracy and representing the people, the elected members and the wretched sock-puppet of an MP stood foursquare behind the narrow-minded, the misguided, the brainwashed and the corrupt.

ScottishPower Renewables know that there is a great future for renewables in Scotland, whereas anywhere south of the River Trent instantly turns into a seething cesspit of middle-class nimbies all spouting the same idiotic nonsense whenever a windfarm is mentioned. So, understandably, SPR decided to devote its energies to fighting the good fight in a sane and intelligent country. Okay, so there are a few little Englanders who have infiltrated Scotland and are up to their usual tricks - intolerance, belligerence, arrogance, etc. - but by and large, Scotland is showing the way, while England lags behind, moaning and whinging about everything.

As a measure of how well Scotland is doing, output from windfarms grew by a massive 120% in the first half of this year. At the same time, hydroelectric schemes increased their output by 75%. This meant that, even in an unusually dry and calm year, Scotland's renewable sector met more than THIRTY PER CENT of the total electricity demand from homes and businesses in Scotland.

That deserves a fanfare.

Okay, so what has England been up to in the meantime?

Well, the liars have been out in force, with the result that the notoriously cumbersome planning system is collapsing under the weight of nimby crap. In the UK as a whole, approval rates for new onshore windfarms in the UK fell to 42% in 2010-11. In England, it was as low as 26%, and the process is taking ever longer, thanks to the lies and grubby tactics of the VVASP types. The average amount of time it now takes for a vital energy infrastructure project to get planning approval has risen from 24 to 33 months.

There is no good reason for this. Politicians are largely to blame - like the Tory MP who is currently opposing a windfarm proposal in his Stroud constituency while, up in Northumberland, where he actually lives, he is actively trying to get a windfarm on his own land. That kind of hypocrisy is killing Britain.

There is no sound reason whatsoever for the middle-class anti-wind rebellion in England. There are lots of fake and phoney reasons, mostly to do with the idea that when you buy your nice little place in the country you reserve the right to prevent anything at all from ever happening anywhere nearby. Which is foolish, selfish, undemocratic and plain stupid. But that's nimbies for you.

Wind of Change was going to wait for another developer to come along and challenge the frauds, the fools, the liars and the thugs of our local nimby fraternity. After all, Wychavon will have to live up to its responsibilities some day, and the issue of sustainability and renewables is not going to go away.

Furthermore, even though nimby nutters have managed to make it almost impossible for Britain to meet her obligations and do the right thing for present and future generations, windfarms are still getting planning permission. And every windfarm that starts operating is another indictment of the fraudulent and dishonest methods of the nimbies. They can only get away with pretending that windfarms are "noisy" when the majority of their ovine neighbours don't know anything about windfarms. The more windfarms there are, the more the dimwits will struggle to tell lies about them.

But the figures are appalling, really. The rest of the world is steaming ahead with renewables. In Britain, we're just squabbling about them. There is no debate on the issue - just a bunch of liars on one side trying to confuse, addle, terrify and mislead the public, while the developers of renewables are being prevented from guaranteeing our energy security. The Mad Hatters of the nimby fringe really do want more nuclear accidents, more expensive electricity, coal imports from countries that use child labour, massive payments of taxpayers' money to corrupt regimes, more pollution, more blackouts, more national humiliation ... just so that they need not glimpse a wind turbine from the window of their spare bedroom. How insane is that?

Well, here's the news: the WWF has announced that the UK could secure up to 90% of its electricity needs from renewables by 2030. No need for new nuclear. Wind, solar, wave, tidal could pretty much do it all. Cheaper than the alternatives. Cleaner and healthier than the alternatives. Here's the report:

http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/positive_energy_final_designed.pdf

Yes, it's possible. But it will require a government that puts Britain's interests first, rather than the self-interest of a few idiots who simply can't tell the truth.

So Wind of Change is back. We can't let the lunatic fringe continue to dictate matters of the gravest national importance by constantly spreading lies. We - the patriots of Britain, the lovers of the land, the caring, conscientious ones - must stand and fight these self-centred lunatics. We must oppose the fascist tactics they use to get their way. We must press the case for the common interest, the greater good, the planet and our children.

Let's hold the government to account. And let's counter the lies of the nimbies with the truth.

The battle starts now.