FORCE, a new 'green' pressure group, is in favour of the Brent Knoll wind farm


	Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset

January 24, 2006
New 'green' pressure group is in favour of Brent Knoll wind farm

Five wind turbines are proposed for Edithmead, near Burnham-On-Sea [Photo: Ecotricity]

A new Burnham-On-Sea pressure group has been formed to support renewable energy and back the controversial plans for a huge wind farm at Brent Knoll.

The organisation - FORCE (Families for Clean Energy) - has been set up by a group of ten residents in the town.

This week, Burnham-On-Sea.com spoke to one of its founding members, Colette Winfield, about what she hopes to achieve.

"We feel there should be a balance of opinions about renewable energy," she said.

"We want to give a voice to all those people who are in favour of using wind, waves and solar energy to generate electricity. We are also in favour of the proposals to build wind farms like the one planned at Brent Knoll."

The FORCE (Families for Clean Energy) group logo FORCE intends to organise petitions, polls and go out onto the streets of the town in coming months to promote its message.

"Many people are concerned that the debate about wind power is being hijacked by groups who have very personal reasons why a wind farm should not be developed - it's usually about house prices."

"In fact, evidence suggests that these quickly recover. We speak for the silent majority who want the discussion to return to important issues like our country's future energy needs."

"We simply cannot continue to burn fossil fuels without calamitous climate change which will certainly affect the Somerset coast. We are equally opposed to more nuclear power stations which produce lethal waste."

"Again, nobody wants this in their back yard! As families, we wish to stress that we are not just concerned about ourselves but about future generations who will inherit our planet."

Although FORCE is based in Burnham-On-Sea, it hopes to draw support from the area between Weston and Minehead, a stretch of coast where several wind turbine sites are planned.

"We're an informal group with no chairman or secretary and we're completely free to join," added Colette. "We'd like to hear from anyone who wants to join us."

The group be contacted by telephone on 01278 789824 or by email at FORCE@homecall.co.uk

A seperate action group, 'kNOll to Windfarm', was set up last autumn to fight plans for the proposed Brent Knoll wind farm. Its members have been keen to emphasise that they are not 'anti-green' but are simply opposing the proposals at Brent Knoll.

The news comes as Ecotricity, the Gloucestershire-based company behind the proposals, is preparing to submit a planning application for the turbines which it claims will produce enough electricity to power 8,000 homes.