Audlem offers to help low carbon future

Dear Secretary of State

In January, I wrote to Hazel Blears, then Communities Secretary, about a technically and financially assessed plan to install a hydro-electric plant on the flight of fifteen locks on the Shropshire Union canal as it passes through Audlem, Cheshire. The plan has been approved by British Waterways and will produce electricity for approximately 50 homes, over 6% of the housing stock in our village.

After many months, we eventually received a reply (copy attached) to our request for funding assistance from Mike O'Brien, then Energy Minister. This response was published on our village website (read by 400 people a day) and it attracted a ribald response. As you will agree, it is almost entirely gobbledegook and fails to answer a simple question. Critically, it failed to mention your announcement of 11th March that £120 million was to be spent on British Waterways hydro-schemes.

While I understand that a later clarification said these BW schemes would be largely confined to rivers, the Audlem hydro-scheme is a perfect example of a technically simple and cost-efficient way to generate electricity and make a significant contribution to meeting 'green' targets locally. I urge you to consider this scheme.

Ironically, in recent weeks, just five miles away in north Shropshire, an appeal against the local authority's decision to refuse planning permission for what is perceived as a poorly located wind farm, has cost more in legal fees than the £165,000 required for our local hydro-scheme.

As I am sure you will agree that blowing money on lawyers' fees is a less attractive way for taxpayers' money to be spent than on green energy, I am re-submitting our technical appraisal and hope that the response with new ministers in place is more comprehensible and positive than Mr Mike O'Brien's letter.

As we are a very open community, we do publish letters to ministers and their responses on our website and in our local Parish newsletter. This was an important part of our gaining the Defra national award three years ago for 'building communities', with Audlem placed outright winner against the top villages from every other English county. We would dearly like to add a feasible, cost efficient, local green energy scheme to our list of our achievements but need your support and assistance to achieve this goal.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely