Wind power is the write thing

6th February 2001
A District Council in Gloucestershire is struggling to register an inundation of over 2,000 letters from local people supporting a new local wind farm. This strong demonstration of public support for wind development is setting a precedent for the pro-wind power lobby in the UK.

One of the UK's leading wind energy companies, Ecotricity, has submitted a planning application to Stroud District Council to build four new state of the art turbines at a site near the Cotswold town of Stroud. Ecotricity, part of the NexGen Group, built a single wind turbine at the site in1996 and if its application is successful the site will power over 2,000 local homes and save the environment over 6,500 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide, each year.

"The people of Stroud want their opinions to be heard and they are saying loud and clear that they want wind power!" Dale Vince, Managing Director of NexGen.

Wind on the web

In July 2000, the NexGen Group launched a campaign in Gloucestershire called Empower, to survey attitudes to wind power. The aim of the campaign is to achieve 10% of the county's domestic electricity from wind energy by 2005. The results of the campaign mirrored previous independent national studies showing that over 80% of people want wind power.

To raise awareness about the campaign, inform the public about wind power and enable people to ask questions and express their opinions, the Empower website is being launched this week at http://www.empowerglos.com