THE recent cancellation of a meeting with a delegation from Winkleigh Parish Council and Devon Under Serious Threat, lead by John Burnett MP, by South West RDA, while reports commissioned and financed by the agency are withdrawn for finalisation, once more brings into question the competence with which the whole project ? promoted by Peninsula Power to build the largest Biomass power station on Winkleigh airfield ? is being presented.
It is well known that these reports have been in preparation for several months and were expected to be ready by now. Indeed if the controversial pamphlet circulated by Peninsula Power earlier this year, that caused the RDA to withdraw financial support for the long promised public consultation process, was to have been believed, then the Environmental Impact Assessment should have been in the public domain for quite some time by now.
It is only possible to speculate about the most recent twist in the promotion of the Winkleigh Biomass Electricity Generator, but it has certainly lead to a further delay in planning application to Torridge District Council, thereby enabling Peninsula Power to gain another extension of the deadline that enables it to qualify for a DTI grant of £11.5m upon fulfilling the relevant criteria.
It would seem that despite the weight of evidence against the viability of the proposal for the construction of this project, at the heart of a totally inadequate transport infrastructure, that the DTI, SWRDA, and Peninsula Power are hell bent upon foisting this supposedly green power station on a community that wants none of it, and that never been properly consulted.
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Once again DUST calls for the withdrawal of the WINBEG plan, that even before a single brick has been laid, has already done enormous damage to the cause of renewable energy that it is claimed it would contribute towards.
Peter Jones
DUST (Devon Under Serious Threat)
Westcots Drive
Winkleigh