What’s better: wind mills or a nuclear power station?

Council leader Joe Cooney is quoted as saying “this (windmills) is not what residents want. There are better options than just pure wind”. Well, Joe didn’t ask me and I am a resident of Colne, but to be fair I think he knows my opinion on this issue. Also, wind and windmills were never, and clearly will never be, the only answer to our energy demands.

They are, however, or should be, a very small part of that demand.

But some residents don’t want to see windmills spoiling their view but surely they still require power? They just don’t want to see it being made. Is that the real issue here? We all need energy, at the turn of a switch, but it has to be made somewhere else. Bit selfish really!

So, my friend Joe says “there are better options” and this week we hear the answer to all our energy requirements. The Government have announced a new nuclear power plant, paid for with money from China, will be built. Fantastic! And where will this very safe nuclear power station be built? I can’t remember but certainly not in Pendle, or anywhere near this area. God forbid. We’ll take the energy, thank you very much, but someone else can put up with the nuclear plant.

But wait a minute – nuclear power stations are totally safe, aren’t they? Except in Japan, of course, and Russia, and the USA and, I nearly forgot, Cumbria. And, of course, we can trust China, can’t we?

At the meeting people described windmills as “alien”, “detrimental” and “grave”. What adjectives would these people use to describe a nuclear power plant?

Finally, I would just like to check with Joe whether the Government’s policy on alternative forms of producing energy has changed as I thought they were in favour of windmills etc. Or are they only in favour of windmills in constituencies that don’t elect a Conservative MP?

Gerard McCabe

Colne