Cornwall Council gives green light for council funds for turbines

“dee _ 2. These rusting turbines in Hawaii and Norway were they rusty because of age or disuse?Turbines have a life of 25 or so years' then they should be replaced with improved models. In this counrty they have only get planning permission for 25 years and then they have to be removed. Is this the case else where? The fact remains we need to decarbonise, reducing the amount of energy we use is what no one seems to acknowledge, and the fact that the cost of the deminishing supplies of oil and gas ( which cause climate change and global warming) will only increase in price with time. Now is the time to check out insulation grants cos 'you know it makes sense'!”

“I think the Duke of Edinburgh summed it up well in a short sentence. He said, quote - "Wind Farms? - A Fairy Story"”

“Nice try Cornish_Kate but you are wrong in one big respect. Gas and nuclear, like them or loath them, are at least reliable. As for the GeoffLane, yes I do travel and have seen wind turbines from Hawaii to Norway rusting away, abandoned because they are effectively useless.

Which brings me nicely to Cornwall's decision makers, otherwise known as THE CABINET (forget the rest of them, they're the equivalent of theatrical 'extras'). Eager to get their snouts into the trough but lacking a majority the Tories did a deal with a bunch of Independents who never dreamed they'd hold office in a million years. Now they seem to be running everything, taking all the important decisions etc., etc., and making a right mess of it in the process.”

“And what about all the government subsidies that have just been announced for North Sea gas on top of all the subsidies in the past? Nuclear has also been subsidised in the past and will be in the future too. The subsidies on solar and wind are nothing compared compared to gas and nuclear.”

“There's a petition to Cornwall Council concerning wind turbines here:

http://tinyurl.com/8eaxnex

If people get behind this as they have with the privatisation petition it might just make a difference.”

“Well, no surprises there then. Waste what little money they have on these useless bit of junk and make those already struggling to pay their energy bills, subsidise them. What about basic services for the elderly, you know those people that are unable to fend for themselves and might just be granted a fleeting visit from an underpaid healthcarer? And again, don't worry when libraries, refuse services, road repairs etc, etc, are cut it won't be your fault. OOoo and I bet we see a Council Tax rise next year.....and what will the excuse be!!!!?????”

“@ TheGeofflane

To take your last point first, it is not 'about house prices, really'. I rent my house and have no interest in its capital value.

The objection to wind farms is that they are technically inefficient, unreliable and can only be 'viable' through massive subsidies paid by the many for the benefit of the view.

The objection to Cornwall Council squandering several millions tax payers' money on this technology without democratic mandate is, I would have thought, fairly obvious.

As for Councillor wotsisname providing 'leadership' - just who do these jumped up pipsqueaks think they are? I (and I suspect most tax payers) don't want 'leadership' of doolaly projects by councillors, just the basic services: refuse collection etc.

It has been well said: "Beware of little men with big ideas". And that phrase just about sums up the anti-democratic shambles of Cornwall Council under the 'leadership' of a failed pub landlord.”

“Wind turbines are installed and being built all over the world. Don't any of you travel, or even watch travel programmes on TV? 'Bird Mincers' indeed! Fields are farmers' factories and animals may graze around windmills. Those who think they 'ruin the landscape' seem also to worship our heritage of arsenic-spewing mining ruins. When my grandchildren visit me they are excited to see these wonderful machines turning wind into electricity. I'd rather see a turbine than an old mine chimney and I'm a geologist. It's all about house prices really.”

“Well said Olly_Gark. Wind turbines are a tax on all of us in that we pay for these inefficient monsters with a tax on a fuel bills. It has clearly escaped the notice of 'The cabinet' and Cllr. German inparticuloar that the nation regarded as being the most green in Europe, Germany, is now rapidly shutting down its wind turbines. They require such a high level of government subsidy (here the so-called 'feed-in-tariff') that they are beginning to make manufacturing uncompetitive because of the high energy price. Plus, of course, these machines are unreliable. No wind, cold weather, they tend not to work. So in the background is a complete gas or nuclear power station waiting to take over the miniscule though expensive power generated by wind turbines.

The unthinking endorsement of wind turbines by Cornwall Council's 'Cabinet', demonstrates what a bunch of deadbeats we have running the county. God help us if they stay there much longer.”

“"Last Wednesday councillor Julian German, cabinet member for localism, sustainability and devolution, put the recommendations forward, saying he did not want to spend taxpayers' money without the support of the cabinet for the scheme."

Never mind 'support of the cabinet' (aka the fat Freemason's unelected clique) what should be required is the support of the tax payers who are being fleeced to pay for inefficient and expensive power generation and other such vanity projects.

It is time that Cornwall Council was returned to democratic control instead of being run by (and frequently for) a 'cabinet' of overpaid wasters who can usually be relied upon to look after their own best interests and those of their friends in business.

If these 'wind farms' / bird mincers are established without democratic mandate then those affected by this greed driven blight on our environment will have little choice but to take direct action against the sites themselves.”