Yesterday afternoon up in Westminster a selection of South West Members of Parliament, together with one or two from further afield, debated the controversial topic of "Planning policy and wind turbines in the South West" led by Geoffrey Cox, the Conservative MP for Torridge and West Devon. Here's a video recording of the proceedings:

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As we reported at the end of last month, the South Brent Community Energy Society's "remanufactured" Vestas V27 wind turbine has now been delivered and installed. Here's a time lapse video revealing the steps involved in installing a wind turbine:

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Following the unexpected delay that we reported on back in July, the South Brent Community Energy Society's Vestas V27 wind turbine has now been delivered and installed. Here's how it looks at the moment:

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Following our trip to South Brent earlier this year I purchased a few shares in the South Brent Community Energy Society Limited. Following my own modest contribution the society raised all the funds it needed to install a "remanufactured" Vestas V27 wind turbine just outside South Brent without needing to borrow from a bank!

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South Brent Community Energy Society are holding a number of open evenings over the next two weeks where they will be seeking additional funding for the construction of a "medium size" wind turbine near the Marley Thatch Farm solar park. Note that unlike the community wind turbines proposed by TRESOC for just up the road near Totnes, the South Brent project has already received planning permission from South Hams District Council. What's more SBCES have already raised over half the anticipated construction costs of £420,000. The purpose of the forthcoming meetings is to try and raise the rest of the required capital from small investors in the local community. They hope thereby to avoid having to follow in the footsteps of the much larger Westmill Community Wind Farm, that needed a top-up loan from Co-operative Bank.

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On Wednesday afternoon South Hams District Council development management committee debated whether to give permission for the construction of the Totnes Community Wind Farm. They ultimately decided to follow the recommendation in their planning officer's report on the proposal, and refused such permission.  According to the council's decision notice:

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The Totnes Community Wind Farm is one of a variety of projects that the Totnes Renewable Energy Society (or TRESOC for short) are involved in which address what they describe as:

The critical need for commercially viable, localised renewable energy technologies

The wind farm project has just taken another significant step on it's long road to:

More on Totnes Community Wind Farm Seeks Planning Permission

After a lot of prevarication the Department of Energy and Climate Change web site now proudly proclaims that:

Consultation on the Renewables Obligation Banding Review is now closed.

In a press release yesterday the Secretary of State, Ed Davey, said that:

More on ROCs Review Results Published at Long Last

The minutes of the meeting of the Teignbridge District Council planning committee have now been published, including the debate about a proposed 40 acre solar farm at Gold's Cross Hill near Tedburn St. Mary that I contributed to last Monday.

More on Teignbridge DC Minutes Reveal Reasons for Refusing Tedburn Solar Farm

Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens announced yesterday that he intends to spend $58 million of his own money on a multimedia advertising campaign promoting alternative energy as a way of reducing United States imports of foreign oil by at least a third over the next ten years. The "Pickens Plan" will include a significant online presence, including Facebook and YouTube, as well as more traditional radio, television and newspaper advertisements. Here's the video from the Plan home page:

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