18th June 2007

A letter to the Forester last week:

Blair is going out with a bang - in the last 10 days, the government has published two White Papers on Planning and Energy, whose contents will shape West Gloucestershire for a generation or more.

We face Lydney being inflated by 40%.  At a well-attended presentation of the plans, I asked a helpful representative of the developer a few questions:

who were the employers coming in?  None yet.

what facilities were to be included?  A neighbourhood centre (a handful of shops, a fake pub and a roadside hotel – that doesn’t sound like a neighbourhood centre to me), no surgeries, maybe a school.

what was the energy-rating on the housing likely to be?  He didn’t know.

any plans for energy micro-generation on the site?  No.

The entire proposal smacks of 20th Century thinking and design when we face 21st Century threats and opportunities.

Which brings me to the Energy White Paper - energy security does not come with nuclear power.  The cost is crippling.  The energy wars of the near future will be over the limited supplies of uranium.  And nuclear power equals nuclear weapons.

So what about a Barrage?  Why would The Green Party oppose such an obvious renewable scheme as the Barrage?  After an intense debate drawing in experts from every field of engineering and the environment, we came down in favour of harnessing the power of the Severn through tidal lagoons – proven technology, cheaper, more practical, flexible and environmentally less damaging.  We should start building lagoons now.

There seems to be some confusion already over planning policy at the District Council – with Tory councillors being quoted both for and against proposed developments.  Are proposals necessary, affordable, sustainable, sensible and inclusive?  The Barrage and Lydney Bypass development are not, and should be rejected out of hand.

Yours sincerely,
James Greenwood
West Glos Green Party