Tuesday 28 August 2012

Join the debate on Windfarms

I bring you another subject that's very much part of my ward in Stoke Park. In fact, I have to declare an interest here, as this is going to affect my street, being on the very edge of the boundary of Ipswich, overlooking the site where 2 x 130 mtr turbiness are proposed.

The land (Thorington) belongs to Ipswich Borough Council but it is sited in the Babergh district, which is the planning authority involved.

The photo has been taken from my street and shows what it will look like, calculated by Peter Evans who has instigated the Stop Ipswich Turbines campaign.

I think it is important that all sides are listened to and understood and then people can make their own minds up. To this end, I have organised and posted leaflets, with my colleague Bob Hall, and this has resulted in some dialogue and sign ups for further information, details below.

I happen to think wind turbines are rather graceful & beautiful but this opinion is not shared by everyone and, even if it was, it is only one of the many concerns that residents and SIT are campaigning on.



Kessingland Wind Turbines

There are residents in Kessingland who have first hand knowledge of living with turbines and tell their own story. They attended a meeting with SIT campaigners and are struggling to resume a quality of life that they had before the turbines were built. Please look at their website but I quote a paragraph which gives a flavour of the problems they are enduring and are fighting against (directly from their website www.turnthemoff.co.uk)


'Noise and the effect on health.

The issue of noise produced by wind turbines is controversial as there are widely conflicting views. An apparent shortage of scientific research and planning regulations are based on outdated data significantly contributes to the problem.

Wind turbines produce three types of sound - (a) mechanical noise from the gearbox and generators, (b) aerodynamic noise from the movement of the blades through the air and (c) low frequency infra sound. Research has shown that low frequency sound can cause serious health problems for people sensitive to its effects. People living near wind turbines have reported experiencing health problems including sleep difficulties, headaches, irritability and stress. Wind turbines now dominate the landscape for miles around and can impact on the quality of life of thousands living in the area. Some residents are, however, not affected by them. Even if they live next door to a resident who is.
This is not a NIMBY issue.


This website has been created to inform people about the adverse affects the two turbines are having on their quality of life. Either through health issues, noise, flickering, vibration, amplitude modulation- AM, devaluation of properties, effects on wildlife, the holiday businesses and the damage to the natural beauty in the surrounding area.

Two public meetings have already taken place with W.D.C (Waveney District Council), the developers and our MP Peter Aldous, another is planned in June.
At the last public meeting over 100 residents attended, all bringing their private issues, concerns and worries. Many raised issues of noise, the resultant sleepless nights and having to leave their own homes to get some peace. Others related to their quality of life having been adversely affected. Some had moved bedrooms to get a good nights sleep, others were unable to relax in their own gardens due to the noise from the turbines.

We must fight to get our former quality of lives back. Together, we can win this fight through the 'Power of the People'.
Please add your issues to this Website and be sure to ring Waveney District Council asking for the Environment Department. They will log and record your complaint of noise and disturbances. The more complaints recorded on noise issues, the more power they will have to argue to act.
Please support our Campaign'   end quote.

This is not a question of Nimby. the campaign in question is stating that it should not be in anyone's back yard (the nearest house to the proposed site, for the 2 turbines, is only 600 yards.) There are many more houses that will be affected by potential noise,visual impact, flicker etc in Pinewood, Thorington Park, Belstead village, Stoke Park and Sprites wards.

You can read more at www.stopipswichturbines.com


Now onto the developers, Partnership for Renewals. They have a website for Thorington Park here
http://pfr.co.uk/thoringtonbarn

They say that the turbines on this planned site will be different from the Kessingland site. I am looking forward to hearing their explanation of this at one of the consultation meetings. They have promised to attend to talk to local residents at a public meeting.

I quote Benefits from their website;


Green electricity

CO2 savings
A wind energy development of this scale is expected to avoid approximately 4,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Please note: The environmental benefit figures are based on two 2.5 megawatt turbines, operating with a 25% capacity factor; average household electricity use of 4602kWh per annum; and the electricity generated displacing electricity generated from CCGT / average fuel mix - approx. 430gCO2/kWh.

Additional income
In addition to Ipswich Council making a positive contribution towards the fight against climate change, Partnerships for Renewables will pay rent for the site, bringing in additional income.

Community benefit fund
A market-leading community benefit package will be provided alongside any future development. This will consist of a community fund, which will receive an annual payment at the rate of £2,500 per installed megawatt.
If three 2.5MW turbines are constructed, the fund would receive £18,750 on an annual basis for the operational life of the project (20-25 years).
The fund will be administered by representatives of the local community, to be spent on local projects.
A separate community benefit fund consultation will take place later on in the development process


This article is for info and to point you in the right direction, should you want to know more or attend any of the meetings.
From SIT - The next meeting will be held at Pinewood Community Hall on September 30th 2012 time tbc



Monday 20 August 2012

Why Jeremy Clarkson should not close his Twitter Account

Whenever anybody writes a blog or opens up a social media account, it is not in the hope that nobody will read it so it follows that we do hope it reaches a good number of people and that they take the time to look at our words.

We are all becoming very aware that there is a dark side to twitter and forums, especially as so many are not open and hide behind the name Anonymous. (Actually as an aside, that name brought so many horrible comments to my blog last week that just seeing the name now has 'anchored' horrible feeliings. Bit like a halloween mask!).

I am very much a coward when it comes to things like heights, bungee jumping etc and in fact had some NLP sessions to allow me to at least behave like a normal person when looking down a mountainside for instance, instead of becoming virtually hysterical! But when it comes to verbal attack, nasty comments even ridicule, it's water off a duck's back, as far as I'm concerned. I learn from everything and always take it as a great opportunity to learn something more about myself or the human race. The week has been very interesting..

You see you have to give your permission to be insulted, embarrassed or threatened when it comes to words and I choose not to. I will always speak my truth for after all 'Truth' is usually subjective.

Apparently Jeremy Clarkson lost a beloved pet and posted said news on his twitter account. Hoping for some sympathy, I suppose, he was soon shocked as he didn't reckon on his followers sending nasty replies which resulted in him losing his temper and calling us all complete utter b*******! (There goes that generalisation again) Obviously the trolls waded in further.

Amanda Platell, in her Daily Mail article on Saturday, said she lost sympathy with him at that point but actually I haven't. He obviously doesn't mean that, he was just lashing out and we all know that Clarkson speaks first and then engages brain. It's what I enjoy about him. No, nothing excuses the wickedness of laughing at someone who is grieving for a family member (which is what a pet is).

She also says he should close his twitter account. That's ridiculous and don't do that Jeremy. What a world it would be if we all gave up going to work each day because we were being bullied there? No, you just learn from your mistakes, ensure that nasty trolls are shown up for what they are and the rest of us must not tolerate this any further.

It does seem that hiding behind anonymity gives people the power to say things they would never say openly. It is from their own personal frustration and rage or a lack of their own confidence, that they feel the need to do this. Bless them, it makes them feel better and bigger. Really confident people show gratitude, praise, understanding and have an open mind. They have empathy and understanding.

So what did I learn from my own experience of the nasty trolls, this week.

1) Don't write a blog in haste (in my defense I was in pain and sitting down made it worse) but take the time to re-read it to see if it has clean language and that the messages could not be missed.

2) I had thousands visit this blog and Ipswich politics made national newspapers. All publicity is good publicity according to the good old saying - time will tell. Either way, at least I was read!

3) None of the labour councillors jumped on the bandwagon. This is what I expect from councillors. We have a code of conduct and most of us stick to it. I thank them nevertheless. I may have this wrong of course and some could still be brought to my attention but if they have it will be minimal.

4) It has shown that there is a small nasty Left that have so much spite its laughable that they call us the Nasty Party. And I wanted the world to know it. Whether its from the right or left, this horrible way of expressing any frustration whilst exclaiming that they care about the planet is an oxymoron. The hypocrites must be shown up for what they are.

5) I now know that I can deal with large scale adverse publicity. So I practise what I preach when it comes to saying that words are what you want them to be. Don't be a victim. it doesn't help. I think it took me longer to get over Van Persie going to Man U than it did the hate mail!

6) Family, colleagues and friends backing me and telling me how great, clever, intuitive, creative and successful I am and sod the others. Thankyou for warming my heart.

Friday 17 August 2012

Seen a Whole New Side to The human Race

Actually this is blog post part 2
Seen a Whole new side to my local paper!

Now, when Paul Geater, that well known left winger of the local paper Ipswich Star, called me about my original blog, I was happy to talk to him. I knew there would be an article in the local press whether I allowed him an interview or not, so had nothing to lose.

One of the things I made quite clear, was that I do not think I am psychic!

I merely pointed out that when we have experts that become discredited, or where experts disagree and never seem to reach a consensus, then I allow myself to use my own intuition in which to make a decisions. I gave several examples including one where our deep intuition can manifest itself into our dreams.

And I really did find it funny that the paper superimposed my head onto a clairvoyants and chose to take that angle. It was so ridiculous that I knew people who have met me either through work or socially would totally ignore the attempt to ridicule me. I even forgave them for not showing the link to my blog where people would be able to see for themselves what I meant, if they read the later clarifying comments.

I have since had offers from magazines etc asking me to share my story but I have turned them down because I take my role as a councillor very seriously.

Anyway, I could say more about that, but this isn't about what has gone past, this is about selective evidence, which is where I got the idea for the blog in the first place. I no longer trust what I read anymore because of this very common approach to giving us information.

No this is the more worrying part of this particular blog

I have been contacted by someone who says he wrote a comment of support for me on the papers web but it had not appeared

He said, and i quote with his permission,


Dear Nadia

I placed a comment on there giving my full support for you but as yet, it is
not being displayed. Are they being selective over which comments to
display?

on prompting he said this.

The message I sent was something like (cant remember word for word):

"I am shocked and appalled by your portrayal of this lady. She has been a
source of inspiration and support for myself and my family in a very
heartbreaking situation when the authorities, who should be acting, appear
to have simply dug their heads in the sand."

These are my true feelings and if there is ANYTHING else I can do to help,
please let me know

Steve Monk Dalton
Now people - can you see what I am finally saying?

How many others have done the same but not checked to see if it has been printed OR to let me know.

This comment may be printed as yet, especially after reading this, but I did see how quick they were to print the first negative comment (oh by the way, not the end of my career, I am my own boss!)
So this is not getting a balanced view, one where people in this town have seen me in so many situations they absolutely know what I meant right from the word go and have agreed with me.

So I leave you with your intuition and for you to ask yourself How much of all the information you see, hear, read etc, do you really trust when there is bias like this round every corner?

I recommend you just trust your own instinct and intuition!

I rest my case.


Have a good weekend