06/09/2023
!!!COMPETITION TIME!!!
T&C'S: ONLY FOR ISLANDERS
So surprise surprise, the council want to build the solar around this forest :(
I don't want to exaggerate but, after last nights meeting it's pretty clear that not one elected or public official in County Hall had seen a tree before.
Maybe the planning committee members are all so busy reading planning reports (obviously not reading any of mine) that they haven't been outside before. Honestly I'm not making this up, and to prove it we've got a game to play!
So, let's play a game! Let's see if you, your child, or even your pet, is smarter than a Planning Committee Member for the Isle of Wight Council.
A winner will be chosen at random. Your prize will be a selection of jars of our Ancient Forest Honey! (limited edition which is super expensive too ooooh)
And remember, not one committee member answered this question, so if you guess correctly you are officially smarter. Are you ready?
Question: If a tree is 20 metres tall, where should you put the solar panels?
A) 18 metres away, so it will only be smashed up a little bit if a tree falls
B) 20 metres away because then the tree will grow and only smash it a little bit when it falls
C) I would not put solar panels underneath trees because that's really silly and surely nobody would be that unique
Don't forget, committee members take great pride in being in their position. They never openly moan about their responsibilities, and that's because nobody asked them to be there. It's their choice.
And wow, it was very clear from the discussion (or lack of) that the members wanted to be somewhere else last night. Maybe it's because a golden orb made up of critical thinking and all the spines flew out the door and they had to chase it back?
And then we get to the planning officers. Is it illegal for planning officers to just repeatedly lie and the chairman not to correct them? We were told so many untruths that it became weirdly suspicious and cringe, like when your unfunny uncle does his Ricky Gervais impression because you smiled at it once ten years ago.
Want to hear a few Council Expert untruths? Here's one "the farmer could plough right up to the tree line if they wanted to". FALSE.
Another one; the solar farms in the area are in use. FALSE. Two of them have shut down and are rusting in the fields, the third has gone into administration.
At one point I fully expected the planning officer just to start robotically repeating "Source; trust me bro", whilst hiding behind his laptop.
Over the next few weeks this page will be heading in a slightly different direction.
This is because the woodland and everything that lives here is under imminent threat. And it's pi**ed me right off. And it should p**s you off too. Luckily we saw this coming and have already built a fully formed and very strong appeal. We will delay this development at every hurdle, because guess what, our livelihoods actually depend on it.
The woods is under serious threat from several solar farm developments and these solar farmers don't care about the ancient woodland or the island one little bit. And we can see that by the trail of destruction and lies they all leave behind. The next worse than the last.
The developer has failed at every stage to listen to us at all. They've repeatedly ignored our concerns, ignored the material constraints and have forced us to show them that they're wrong at the highest level. An opportunity we relish.
Over the next few weeks we will be documenting our story so you can all see what we all are having to deal with.
This journey is about to get wild, from forest cutters to the courts, it's not where we chose to be, but if we can protect woodlands, than a foresters job can happen in a court room too.
And even if we lose, even if it costs us everything, at least we can say that we gave it our best shot. At least we can say that when everyone else around us crumbled, we stood up against the solar developer and said;
"STOP DESTROYING IRREPLACEABLE HABITATS YOU MONEY HUNGRY PSYCHOPATHS"
One guess per person, please get permission from a responsible adult before you apply
