Trees at risk in river hydro-electricity plan (From Oxford Mail)

this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

faatmaan wrote:
this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

Spot on! And I'm a greeny, and support this scheme. The trees are young and newly planted ones can take over.

@lifemachine

It is another vanity project not worth the killing of trees. Do they really need a visitor centre if they do they should rent a space in the community centre on the Botley Road.

Just another nimby trick to put the costs of the project beyond reach.

Next they will want a 12 month delay for another enviromental assesment.

Just get on and build it!

I can't wait for the proposed changes to the planning laws being forced forward by this typical misuse of the law.

This is just another example of people not accepting any change at any cost. If we all thought this way we would still be living in medieval villages because we couldn't pull any thing down. Trees grow again and very often be sited in better and more suitable places. I think the loss of a few trees to supply enough power for up to 50 houses is a small sacrifice to make especially when the trees will grow again.

Not sure of the need for a "Visitors Information Centre" really.

As for trees, plant, grow, harvest, plant...

Oflife wrote:

faatmaan wrote:
this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

Spot on! And I'm a greeny, and support this scheme. The trees are young and newly planted ones can take over.

@lifemachine

This is an inappropriate scheme being pushed through by a bunch of highly vocal pseudo greens - Osney Town pressure groups and others - so they can show their friends and feel smug. These turbines are hugely costly and due to limited sites cannot be scaled up to provide any significant contribution to our energy needs. Think again.

Among Hindus,the Himalayan Cedar is worshiped as a divine tree.
Does anyone on here know if this particular tree is of significance to anyone of that religion - or haven't the protesters thought of that one yet ?

Benhall wrote:

Oflife wrote:

faatmaan wrote:
this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

Spot on! And I'm a greeny, and support this scheme. The trees are young and newly planted ones can take over.

@lifemachine

This is an inappropriate scheme being pushed through by a bunch of highly vocal pseudo greens - Osney Town pressure groups and others - so they can show their friends and feel smug. These turbines are hugely costly and due to limited sites cannot be scaled up to provide any significant contribution to our energy needs. Think again.

How do you define "hugely costly though"?

A quick Google around reveals that the turbine will cost less than a small house on Osney island.

If all the money from these useless wacky schemes from all around the country was pooled, we could build a state of the art Nuclear Power Plant, providing cheap, (until Cameron taxes it to the hilt) Green, efficient power for us all, a bit ironic that the Germans who champion the sort of wacky schemes such as those above, will be buying French NUCLEAR generated Leccy to make up for their own shortfall which will be caused by the above.

Not exactly 'Amazon Rain Forest' proportions, by cutting down a few trees of one type, and replacing with another type, is it? Some folk will complain and join eco-groups about anything - and now we even have rival NIMBYS girding their 'eco-loins' in both attack and defence of a project! Little wonder Oxford is in such a mess - from a City Council that closes public toilets, to bus operators being allowed to strangle the 'City of dreaming spires' and from a City over-blessed with vast tracts of parks and recreation areas, to massive demand upon housing needs, an ever-growing student population, thousands homeless around Oxford, and areas of the City with the worst 10% child deprivation figures in the UK ........ whilst opposing eco-warriors waste everyone's time with petty squabbles. Roll-on Christmas!

Benhall wrote:

Oflife wrote:

faatmaan wrote:
this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

Spot on! And I'm a greeny, and support this scheme. The trees are young and newly planted ones can take over.

@lifemachine

This is an inappropriate scheme being pushed through by a bunch of highly vocal pseudo greens - Osney Town pressure groups and others - so they can show their friends and feel smug. These turbines are hugely costly and due to limited sites cannot be scaled up to provide any significant contribution to our energy needs. Think again.

Well done Ben. These ghastly people don't realise that another hydro unit so close to the Osney Mill one will not be cost efficient. Forget the trees, it is a total waste of money being 100 yards below the lowest bridge on the Thames. I understand the water has to be kept low so that BOATS can get under it. I hope nobody gets conned into I vesting in it.

Andrew:Oxford wrote:

Benhall wrote:

Oflife wrote:

faatmaan wrote:
this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

Spot on! And I'm a greeny, and support this scheme. The trees are young and newly planted ones can take over.

@lifemachine

This is an inappropriate scheme being pushed through by a bunch of highly vocal pseudo greens - Osney Town pressure groups and others - so they can show their friends and feel smug. These turbines are hugely costly and due to limited sites cannot be scaled up to provide any significant contribution to our energy needs. Think again.

How do you define "hugely costly though"?

A quick Google around reveals that the turbine will cost less than a small house on Osney island.

Well that's part of problem. Most people's understanding seems to come from a quick google search. Try reading the planning docs. If you're a supporter the logic goes something like 'we've had flooding so we've got climate change so this scheme to cut carbon emissions must be a good idea' forgetting about the costs (I bet they don't add in carbon costs of manufacture, transport etc - they're not made here), and forgetting about the tiny actual contribution to energy needs. Let's face it, most people, businesses, govts are too selfish to make the hard changes that will really make a difference so we get a few low energy light bulbs and schemes like this to give people a nice warm feeling.

A Scroat wrote:

Benhall wrote:

Oflife wrote:

faatmaan wrote:
this is a typical Oxford stand off, the enviromentalists want green energy, the enviromentalists do not want anything green disrupted or removed, no wonder Oxford is a no go zone for realistic sustainable growth, sll thst will be left in Oxford soon will be the people who wish to see the victorian era return, minimum wage jobs across the bulk of employment and a transport system based on ability to pay with no motorised traffic within the centre.please discuss !

Spot on! And I'm a greeny, and support this scheme. The trees are young and newly planted ones can take over.

@lifemachine

This is an inappropriate scheme being pushed through by a bunch of highly vocal pseudo greens - Osney Town pressure groups and others - so they can show their friends and feel smug. These turbines are hugely costly and due to limited sites cannot be scaled up to provide any significant contribution to our energy needs. Think again.

Well done Ben. These ghastly people don't realise that another hydro unit so close to the Osney Mill one will not be cost efficient. Forget the trees, it is a total waste of money being 100 yards below the lowest bridge on the Thames. I understand the water has to be kept low so that BOATS can get under it. I hope nobody gets conned into I vesting in it.

Exactly. I think they wish they were first so are keeping quiet about the other one. They can't even justify it by saying it's a necessary education / awareness thing. We've got one already. It's been running best part of a year.

Although they're asking for some investment money remember that we're paying for bulk of it through our taxes and increased utility bills.

With all the talk of flooding particularly at Osney Island, anyone considered the effect two turbines cutting in and out ad-hoc will have on the water level?. You might get wet feet along with your green energy! I understand that in the event of a power cut these units shut down, if the residents of Osney are really that worried about flooding this is one hydro unit too many.

The tree issue is obviously important but there's a few people on here who have actually done a bit of research, and got to the heart of the matter. This project is not the answer to Osney islands energy needs or carbon footprint it's a vanity project. The existing turbine barely moves during summer and grinds to halt when the river is flowing fast and the fall from on side to the other dereases. You can see the output fall during high flows not increase by looking at the live website:
http://mannpower.log
ic-energy.com/wrappe
rs/osney/
The new turbine would only be allowed to run when the existing one is going at full tilt. In other words it won't be allowed to run in summer and there will be too much water in winter! A good idea in a bad place.

cowleycowconjurer wrote:
The tree issue is obviously important but there's a few people on here who have actually done a bit of research, and got to the heart of the matter. This project is not the answer to Osney islands energy needs or carbon footprint it's a vanity project. The existing turbine barely moves during summer and grinds to halt when the river is flowing fast and the fall from on side to the other dereases. You can see the output fall during high flows not increase by looking at the live website:
http://mannpower.log

ic-energy.com/wrappe

rs/osney/
The new turbine would only be allowed to run when the existing one is going at full tilt. In other words it won't be allowed to run in summer and there will be too much water in winter! A good idea in a bad place.

Quite right. These precious people overlook the obvious facts. Perhaps this is the first Osney Island financial scam. Don't invest in this.

I totally agree with A Scroat. My best friend used to live on the Island and said there were a small group of very precious people who decided what everyone else would have whether they wanted it or not. They have their own agenda so be careful.

Myron Blatz wrote:
Not exactly 'Amazon Rain Forest' proportions, by cutting down a few trees of one type, and replacing with another type, is it? Some folk will complain and join eco-groups about anything - and now we even have rival NIMBYS girding their 'eco-loins' in both attack and defence of a project! Little wonder Oxford is in such a mess - from a City Council that closes public toilets, to bus operators being allowed to strangle the 'City of dreaming spires' and from a City over-blessed with vast tracts of parks and recreation areas, to massive demand upon housing needs, an ever-growing student population, thousands homeless around Oxford, and areas of the City with the worst 10% child deprivation figures in the UK ........ whilst opposing eco-warriors waste everyone's time with petty squabbles. Roll-on Christmas!

Sorry but I have lived in Oxford all of my life bar 7months( spent in Glostershire countryside), If everyone has your v-poor judgment on nature then bog off to the moon. What everyone seems to have forgotten is the massif loss of the rainforest the suden realisation that earth,ozone thining, weather paterns changing. All due to YOU & Others After a quick fix & buck at the cost to everyone/everything else, every plant & tree is sacred in saving the World for us and others that follow. So think before distroying any plant life, (without plants you will not live. By the way no-one seems to know which tree this is by whats been reported Lawson or Himalayan. £1 or 1p.

I live in West Oxford and I despise the pseudo green lobby. Using tax payers money they favour any green project however poor value in order to feel virtuous and smug. Actually this project CANNOT make any difference WHATSOEVER to climate change and I'll bet if properly costed the energy is produces will be very expensive. But it wont be properly costed - these vanity tiny projects never are.

What we need is a quick build of coal fired stations (we've plenty of coal left) to tide us over and then some nuke stations possibly some big renewable projects if they can get within reach of reasonable unit costs.

We dont need piddling pointless poor value things like this

China is planning 600 new coal fired power stations, India 400! There is NOTHING the UK can do to significantly offset this massive increase in carbon emissions and we seriously delude ourselves if we think otherwise. But hey, let Osney island preen itself on being SOOO green (except for their cars and frequent flights and Tvs and computers and...)

Sophia wrote:
I live in West Oxford and I despise the pseudo green lobby. Using tax payers money they favour any green project however poor value in order to feel virtuous and smug. Actually this project CANNOT make any difference WHATSOEVER to climate change and I'll bet if properly costed the energy is produces will be very expensive. But it wont be properly costed - these vanity tiny projects never are.

What we need is a quick build of coal fired stations (we've plenty of coal left) to tide us over and then some nuke stations possibly some big renewable projects if they can get within reach of reasonable unit costs.

We dont need piddling pointless poor value things like this

Completely agree with you and I'm in West Ox too. The way these people witter on without understanding the facts is frightening. A few of course will have hidden agendas or boxes to tick. There are things in the world which make all their schemes ridiculous. And one of them is population growth.

Was going to add something here related to the above but it would probably be deemed inappropriate