When it comes to the environment; there is only one party you can trust and that is the Liberal Democrats. The Labour Party have failed to deliver on renewable energy, and the Tories pretend to be green but when it comes to supporting sustainable energy they will always turn the other way, and this week proved the point.

On Wednesday 4 November, in the House of Commons the Tory MP for Mid Worcestershire, Peter Luff introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill in the House to deliberately attempt to wreck any new wind farm developments. Peter claimed that his proposals were deliberately modest, and he that wind turbines up to 50 metres high should not be located closer than half a mile to a home. Larger ones, up to 100 metres, should be at least a mile and the largest, above 100 metres, should be at least one and a half miles from a home.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Minister, Martin Horwood stood up for wind energy this week, opposing the Ten Minute Rule Bill. If the bill was passed, which would be highly unlikely; it could bring an overnight halt to the UK’s renewable energy progress. Martin Horwood explained the problem with an example close to his home; “Cheltenham’s first wind turbine is planned in the Springbank area of Cheltenham. Planning permission is being applied for. It will not be big—a bit less than 18 metres tall, to the tip of the highest blade. It will generate 9,500 kWh of electricity a year, and save more than 4 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.”

“Perhaps more importantly, it will follow the good example of Danish wind energy by being owned by a community organisation, the Hesters Way Neighbourhood Project.” said the Cheltenham MP. The project was set up to support regeneration in one of the least well-off parts of Cheltenham, and the wind turbine will save the community nearly £1,000 a year off its electricity bill, allowing it to spend more money on its other work in the area.  Martin Horwood maintained that the turbine will be safe and quiet and that “It also has a rather striking design. I concede that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in general, I think that most wind turbines are rather graceful, and easily more attractive than the average pylon. The Springbank wind turbine has so far encountered very little opposition, but whether it receives community support should surely be a matter for the people of Springbank and their elected representatives. We should not contemplate a Bill that would rule out the project at a stroke” said the Lib Dem MP.

At the British Wind Energy Association conference earlier this month the Liberal Democrats also spoke out in support of a policy for zero carbon Britain. The party wants 30% of electricity generation from renewables via 33 Gigawatts (GW) of offshore capacity and 11 GW onshore. Their policy includes a commitment to investigate harnessing power from the Severn Estuary.