Proposed Solar Farm for Hanslope
e were invited to meet W Camborne Energy for an open meeting in Hanslope where this proposal for a
Solar Farm was explained in considerable detail. Deeming the sight of solar panels on domestic roofs quite ugly I got along with some misgivings which were however assuaged by what I learned . The proposed area at Littlewood farm is overlooked by no one, quite unlike the threatened windfarm . An array of panels will be mounted no more than shoulder high sloped slightly towards the midday sun, this does not obstruct the use of the land for livestock or even vegetable crops.
There is a common assumption that these things only work in warm weather but
such is not the case, they will even work in cloudy weather for all they require is light. Certainly the greatest yield will come during the Summer months . It is hoped the proposal will be approved around July and construction is anticipated for the Autumn months. No heavy machinery is needed so we face no threat of noise, nor is there any danger to birds or bats both of which are harmed by wind turbines , and further , solar panels make no noise they are in short altogether harmless . A modest but encouraging benefit from the proposed development is that it significantly reduces all possibility of the sometimes offered wind farm towards Salcey forest coming into being .
I came away most encouraged . There are
always a crowd of Luddites to quarrel with any fairly new technology and they hold up much of what we need . We should have been commissioning new nuclear power way back in 1997, but we elected only too many luddites in that year; we should now be benefitting from that advance but in truth we have still taken no positive move. The green clowns are trying to kid us that tracking for shale gas is dangerous ; they are wrong and we need to explo it those massive reserves in order to avoid dependence on supplies from Russia and elsewhere .
We are facing supply problems which can be overcome provided only we have the determination to stop arguing and just forge ahead . GB
Freedom of The Press The Bedrock of Our Liberties
am proud to recall writing in Phonebox Isome fourteen years ago that Ron ,
our editor censored nothing written by contributors . I had upset someone out there who complained that a
comment of mine should not have been published , I made it quite clear that I was solely responsible for my own view which of course I reiterated. This magazine would only reject blasphemy or sedition.
Many hac k les were raised a couple of years ago when the Daily Telegraph published details of MPs expenses. MPs were powerless to escape from such
Olney Newton Link
exposure at that time but exposure of some very nasty hacking afforded them a chance for revenge and parliament proclaimed a statutory press regulator . Press representing all shades of opinion refused to conform , a statutory body might only too readily have been used as an instrument of control and censorship . There is no way the people of this country will submit to the restrictions suffered by folk in Russia, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia or Iran.
Our freedoms must be nursed with care, especially if we go to press with our
views and comments. I've learned plenty from the sometimes critical responses to some of my own writings . It is only too easy to tread on someone 's toes . Here in Phonebox a recent satirical piece was sadly misconstrued where most reasonable readers will simply have enjoyed a good chuckle. Hopefully the next parliament will delete the offending statute ; there will indeed be a vast programme of deletion for their attention which will also include a mountain of Euro interferences .
Happy days ahead provided we keep our guard up. GB
e're in for a very hot April! Not here, I doubt, but when you read this four of us from W Olney will be setting off for Sierra Leone to attend the wedding of Claire Lintern to Mahmoud Tarawally and also to visit our friends in Newton. The temperatures are likely to be around 40°C ! The wedding is in the capital Freetown but we plan to stay two nights at a Guest House in Newton village so that we can visit the Skills Centre, the Health Centre,the Pineapple Projectand the Communal Toiletproject. Hopefullywe will meet some of the teachers at our Link schools, although it is unlikely that the schools will be open due to the Easter
break. We are, however, taking with us some work done by the children in the Olney schools.
The Toilet Twinning Project
This is going well thanks to some very generous donations from kind individuals together with donations from some larger organisations such as the Bull Hotel and Ousedale School (Olney Campus) who have agreed to twin their toilets . We were delighted that two young ladies , Alexandra and Isobel Howe, undertook to run the Milton Keynes Half Marathon for us and their efforts have raised over £1OOO.We think they definitely deserve a plaque for their loos! Please keep up the donations ; we need a lot more yet.
Annua l Meeting
We would like to invite you to our annual meeting that will be held on Wednesday May 7th at The Bull Hotel , Olney . The guest speaker is Dr Suzanne Schwarz from the University of Worcester who will give a talk entitled 'A Just and Honourable Commerce' and concerns the abolition of the slave trade in Sierra Leone . As this year sees the 250th Anniversary of the appointment of John Newton to the Curacy of Olney we are delighted that Dr Schwarz is able to be with us.
38 Phonebox Magazine