IF YOU'RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION -YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM

If you take away just one thing from this website - get this:

There is one issue more important than anything else on the planet bar nothing. Not terrorism, not AIDS, not Iraq, not world debt, not whether Stoke City get promoted, not who's coming to your next cheese and wine party, not World War III - but GLOBAL WARMING.

NOTHING bar NOTHING can be allowed to get in the way of cracking this one crucial issue - or we won't need to worry about anything else because there won't be a planet to live on.

SO......

By and large windfarms are A GOOD THING - they generate clean renewable energy and they help the fight against global warming...

BUT......

 Are they a good thing at Maer Hills?

• Claymoss say that their wind turbines will generate enough electricity to save "9,023 - 10,435 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, that's enough to fill 720 double decker buses." What we can't work out is:

a) is this when there is a gale blowing 24/365 or

b) the number of buses needed to transport their staff to work

c) the tonnage of hot air Claymoss are going to give out before we finally see them off?

Answers on a postcard - please!!!

Seriously though: WE NEED TO KNOW IF THERE IS ENOUGH WIND BEFORE WE CAN COMMENT FURTHER. The proposed wind monitoring masts will gather the required data and we will be able to comment intelligently. Until then - ACCEPT NO BULLS**T!

• There aren't THAT many wind farm specialists in this country - and they all know each other. None of the ones we spoke to had even heard of Maer Hills. The developers say that they are being advised by Enviros. So check out the Enviros website www.enviros.com and see what they have to say about the Evolution Leisure Village - not a lot that we could find....

• What's the economic case for a windfarm at Maer Hills? In plain english IS THERE ENOUGH WIND? Check out the British Wind Energy Association website and look at their wind maps for the British Isles. On the face of it Maer Hills wouldn't exactly be your first choice place for siting a windfarm - but let's have some proper data before we jump to conclusions.

• Windmills need open space and to be sited clear from trees to avoid the turbulence.  Not exactly what you find a Maer Hills! (Unless Claymoss chop them all down to create an eco-friendly environment.) So let's get some proper expert advice before we make up our minds.

• Why site a windfarm together with a leisure park? Where families want to stay and where kids want to fly kites? YOU WOULDN'T! So don't let them get the rest of their plans through on the back of a bogus green agenda.

• A GOLF COURSE on the same site as a WIND FARM? Have they asked the Health and Safety about that one? WE THINK NOT!!!!

• Anybody who thinks they can object to wind turbines on the grounds that they don't like the look of them has got a slate slipped. Take a cruise round the Lake District and there's wind turbines going up like they're going out of fashion. If appearance doesn't count there - it certainly doesn't count here. If there's sufficient wind - there's going to be wind turbines - GET USED TO IT!

• If you want to build a windfarm you find a suitably windy site, work out whether the electricity generation make economic sense and go from there.  If that's what happens - all well and good. BUT IT HAS TO STAND ON ITS OWN MERITS.

So until we get more information: turn off unnecessary lights, turn down the heating, turn your TV off standby, reduce the miles you drive. And if you drive on diesel then you can get cheap, legal, environmentally friendly biodiesel from here.

Save Planet Earth