Is this the democracy Cornwall really wants?

RESIDENTS of Cornwall, have you fully realised what your council's strategic committee meeting of October 13 decided for you over the Davidstow wind farm application? Do you appreciate the precedent that has been set? Do you realise that no scenic area in Cornwall can now be considered safe from the encroachment of giant wind turbines?

The Davidstow turbines will be 126 metres (roughly 400 feet) high, two-and-a-half times as high as most of the turbines currently existing in Cornwall. Reaching higher than Roughtor, they will appear to tower over it when viewed from anywhere to the north-west, particularly from the A39 and B3266.

The application was approved on just 12 votes, seven for and five against, though the committee has 21 nominal members. How many of the committee had ever seen turbines of the size proposed? How many of the committee made any effort to find the views of their own local residents, let alone the general view of the people of Cornwall? Did the committee, and the full council, and the council staff, consider that there was no need for the Cornish public as a whole to have any part in making strategic decisions on the future of iconic Cornish landscape?

The committee's decision still has to be ratified by the full council and the Secretary of State for the Environment could still order a public inquiry.

Whether or not you think CO2-saving justifies this particular wind farm, do you consider the manner in which your council's strategic committee has considered and accepted the application is reasonable?

If not, write or e-mail as soon as possible to the Government Office of the South West, preferably via your county councillor.

GRAHAM COCHRANE

ex-Camelford