Now is the time to speak out in support of wind energy in the South Hams.

The Government has made a clear commitment to a massive increase in the power that we get from wind energy. By adapting the marine engineering technology developed for the North Sea oil industry the UK is now leading the way in offshore wind. Onshore wind turbines are cheaper to manufacture, install, maintain and connect to the grid and we are entering a period of rapid expansion in on shore wind energy too. There are many factors constraining onshore wind turbines and a limited number of viable wind sites. Where sites exist there are real opportunities for community ownership of wind turbines, offering substantial benefits for the local economy, while making a significant contribution in tackling climate change and oil depletion.

Every wind development raises genuinely felt concerns among local residents about potential impacts on the landscape, environment and health which must be addressed if wind is to take its place as a major part of our electricity supply infrastructure. These concerns are currently being aired in Wind Farm Wars, a 4 part documentary series following the development of the Den Brook Windfarm in North Devon (Friday evenings, BBC2).

SUPPORTING WIND IN THE SOUTH HAMS (SWISH)
As the debate around the Totnes Community Wind Farm gets more lively, we are joining with supporters of wind energy to form SWISH – Supporting Wind in the South Hams. SWISH will provide a forum for all those of us in favour of wind energy to get together and make our views known. Everyone will be welcome to join, you don’t have to be a TRESOC member, and we are also inviting local organisations to take an active role.

As well as giving local wind supporters a voice, SWISH will also provide accurate information to encourage an informed debate on community owned wind energy.

We want our role in SWISH to be transparent. We are setting up a SWISH Facebook page and would love to hear from pro-wind Facebook users who would like to be moderators. Details will be posted shortly on the TRESOC website.

Please contact us by replying to this email or phone us on 01803 867431 if you would like to take part in SWISH. We’d love to hear from you if you have any ideas for SWISH activities or events that are informative and fun!

Join SWISH for a cleaner healthier planet!... Banish those climate change blues with SWISH!

SOUTH HAMS OPPOSING COMMERCIAL TURBINES (SHOCT)
You may have heard of the formation of anti-wind group, SHOCT (South Hams Opposing Commercial Turbines). Take a look at their website www.shoct.co.uk to see their position. The SHOCT website contains a number of untrue statements and distortions of the facts.

We have prepared a detailed rebuttal sheet which is available on the News page of our website. You will also find these issues addressed in more general terms on www.bwea.com (Renewables UK), and www.yes2wind.com. SHOCT had planned to host a public meeting on Friday 13th at Harberton Village Hall, but it was postponed. However, we can be sure that it will be re-arranged at some time in the near future. The TRESOC Board feels it is important to attend all such meetings to gain an understanding of local residents' genuine concerns. We encourage our members and all other local wind energy supporters to attend too, so we can have an open, informed and civilised debate on this issue, which is now of local and national strategic importance.

We all share a love of the local landscape and environment and it is understandable that some people living nearby the turbines have questions that they would like answered. TRESOC and our partner Infinergy are in discussion with the SHDC planning team to ensure that we provide all the detailed information on a wide range of potential impacts neccessary to enable the planning authority to reach an informed decsion. A bird and bat survey began in October last year and we will have the results from this in the autumn. Over the coming months we will prepare a detailed planning application for submission at the end of the year.

Thank you once again for your continued support for TRESOC.

The comments we get from our friends, neighbours and people we meet around and about in Totnes help us to know we are doing the right thing in making community owned renewable energy a reality in Totnes & Environs.

www.tresoc.co.uk