MABRAKE – Milton Abbot, BRadstone And KElly Action group.

MABRAKE is trying to be neutral, have an open mind and to be as factual as possible relating to environmental issues including energy sources. We welcome a debate based on facts and not on political or environmental misconceptions via irresponsible lobbying and we do not mind being told should we present incorrect information.

Our current Government have announced that they will make it easier for landowners and investors to obtain planning permission for onshore Wind Turbines. This reverses previous promises to stop the installation of these highly controversial sources of energy in populated areas.

Labour is saying that they will lift the existing block on planning and fast-track onshore  wind turbines under their net zero drive if elected. They say theirs is not just a climate mission, it is a security mission, a growth mission and a cost-of-living mission but they say so with misleading information.

What is known is that the high-voltage electricity transmission network (National Grid) in England & Wales has limited spare capacity even for the current electricity requirements (input or distribution). There is not  the capacity for any substantial increase of electric car charging power outlets, not to mention huge power inputs. That is why National Grid have proposed a £60bn upgrade to the grid using both under-ground cabling and Pylons (19^th March 2024). Using Pylons is estimated to cost 1/4^th of placing such cables underground and they are forecasting 1000 miles of Pylons at this stage 1 level (National grid & national news channels).

 These pylons are huge and do have a  major environmental impact not to mention electromagnetic field issues to living creatures including humans. Gov.Uk are stating there is ‘uncertainty’ regarding such health effects. Many people living close to existing pylons have a different experience. More information including photos on how these pylons would look can be found at: https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-electricity-pylons.  

Before the National Grid are allowed to proceed with this upgrade there should be a debate on how it can be phased so that more if not all cables can be laid underground.

The politicians are trying to persuade us that more onshore wind turbines will bring down electricity costs. That is incorrect. The wholesale price of electricity is responsible for the prices. The price is generally set by the most expensive source that has to be ‘turned on’ and that is gas.

There is a proposal for an ‘incentive’ to local residents who permit new turbines in their area by providing cheaper electricity to them but such promises in the past have either not materialized or been short lived. Such ‘incentives’ will not compensate residents for the well documented reduction in their property values that will result.

On the 12^th December 2023 at 10.40am, one of the coldest days of the year, the total output of all the Wind Turbines (on-shore and off-shore) was only 1.2GW when the electricity demand was 44GW. Gas and Nuclear were providing 70% of the requirement. The reason for this is clear. On uniformly cold and hot days there is little atmospheric pressure change and so no significant wind, so wind turbines are unable to provide a reliable power source.

There is no ‘net-zero’ involved in the construction, shipping, building of the wind turbines and the construction of the enormous cement foundations 937,500 kgs/MW (Source  https://www.freeingenergy.com/math/wind-turbine-weight-pound-mwh-gwh-m148/ ).

Many older and out of service onshore wind turbines remain in place, being environmental hazards with the risk of blades falling off and with apparently no enforceable legal responsibility for anyone to dismantle and remove not only the turbines but also the concrete foundations.

We must have a reliable electricity supply. It is thus necessary to have power stations that can provide the quantity of electricity required until new reliable and low carbon sources are available. Low carbon power stations (with carbon capture facilities) need to be built including Nuclear SMR’s (Small Modular Reactors).

Nuclear power plants are of course highly controversial considering that accidents can occur. Of the commercial plant accidents only Chernobyl (1986) resulted in loss of life due to direct radiation (source: https://world-nuclear.org).  More modern plants have considerably minimized risks. We do at the moment import significant amount of electricity from France where over 80% of their electricity is generated by Nuclear Power.

Solar power is  part of the solution. Why are compulsory roof solar panels not part of building regulations for new built domestic & industrial properties? There are big opportunities for local generation and storage (using batteries) of electricity using existing and future buildings.

Why is there still no minimum EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)  requirement for new built homes? Surely this should be a mandatory requirement.

Under pressure from lobby groups this government and the shadow government have once again taken the wrong decisions. This is why our electricity generation system is often close to breakdown and we are increasingly dependent on importing electricity from sources that could stop supply at any time.

We all know that we have to change to a more environmentally friendly world however we need to ensure that our politicians take the right decisions to preserve our precious countryside (including our area of West Devon), in addition to ensuring a secure supply of electricity.

We were extremely sad to learn of the death of Chris Burchell a few months ago. Chris was one of our founder members and a great source of knowledge for our group. We shall miss him a great deal.

With Chris’ death our committee membership has dropped to three and we have had to review whether we could continue with such a small team. Over the years we have campaigned on a number of issues, trying all the time to protect the amazing environment we enjoy particularly here in West Devon.

These issues have included:

• Fighting against the inappropriate sighting of large Wind Turbines
• Objecting to those planning applications which would impact onto our heritage sites, the countryside and villages
• Participating in the MACKPlan Neighbourhood Plan, which has been successfully completed.
• Raising with West Devon Council concerns about unauthorized Tree felling and hedge removal.
• Raising concerns about the lack of decommissioning plans for redundant Wind Turbines
• Supporting the move towards Net Zero but raising concerns about the lack of plans to meet the objective whilst insuring we have a secure electricity supply
• Proposing  an extension to the Tamar Valley AONB
• Objecting to the extension of Greystone Quarry into the AONB

Many of these issues are on-going. The recent announcement that both political parties support lifting the ban on new On-Shore Wind Turbines means that new battles are likely against their siting in locations which will have a destructive impact on our landscape and our wildlife.

Have considered the option of closing Mabrake we have decided to continue for the time being albeit with a reduced number of meetings and with a reduced number of campaigns.

If anyone who feels strongly about environmental matters wishes to join our committee then please contact Gary Vanstone at garyvanstone@btinternet.com

The ambition to reach a net-zero level of CO2 emissions for the UK is a reasonable one but setting a date of 2050 for this to be definitely achieved is foolish when there is no plan on how to deliver it.

In this memo we set out some ideas on how to create a credible plan and possible policies for  the new government to consider which would contribute to achieving the net-zero ambition.

Developing a credible plan

• Any plan must be driven by the reliable output capability of the national electricity grid combined with off-grid installations such as personal solar arrays.
• The government issued its net zero strategy in October 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-path-to-net-zero-set-out-in-landmark-strategy.

Whilst this was a useful set of initiatives it did not constitute a detailed plan showing what would be achieved in each year leading up to 2050. Without such a plan together with the timetable for  investment decisions and achieving engineering goals  then there is no clear way to track progress and to insure that decisions are made in time to meet the plans objectives.

• Some of the key decisions  that have been made by the government are:
  • All new housing will have electric boilers from 2030
  • The UK’s electricity system will decarbonize by 2035
  • All new cars and vans to be zero emissions by 2050 (the majority by 2040)
• What is not clear is what is the demand requirement for electricity if these policies are implemented and how is going to be achieved?
• Driving consumers to use more electricity without being certain we have the capacity to deliver is putting ‘the cart before the horse’.
• We need a detailed chronological plan which delivers the required decarbonized electricity and then when that has been achieved we can implement the policies currently targeted for 2030-2050

Policies to underpin a plan

1. Of the typical 40GW of electricity generated by the grid today an average 40% to 50% is derived from fossil fuels (largely gas). Fossil fuels are going to be an essential fuel source for electricity output certainly up to 2050 since along with nuclear they provide the reliable and controllable base load which renewables such as wind and solar power do not. To continue to use fossil fuels and decarbonize them then we must invest in carbon capture, use and storage. A recent Royal Academy of Engineering webcast outlined how this can be done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZWvtPJ0DGY&t=991s

Policy: incentivize and compel the electricity suppliers to install carbon capture now with clear goals by year of decarbonized fossil fuel output.

2.Change National Building Regulations. One of the best ways of reducing electricity requirements form the grid is by generating the electricity in the buildings that use them. Building regulations should be changed to ensure that all future residential and commercial buildings incorporate solar power electricity generation and if possible battery storage. House builders will complain that this will put up the cost of buildings, the government should commission independent studies to show how this policy could be implemented in a cost effective and design efficient manner

Policy: change building regulations so that all new residential and commercial buildings incorporate solar power

Policy: commission a design study to show how this can be done in a cost effective and design sensitive way.

3.Incentivise current property owners to invest in solar power and battery storage. There are vast acreages of particularly existing commercial roof space which could be used to generate solar power electricity. The current export tariffs set by the electricity generators range 1p to 5p per kwhr. This compares to an average cost to the consumer of 23p per kwhr.

Policy: incentivize property owners to install solar power and export to the grid by setting a minimum price to be paid by the energy suppliers

Policy: encourage more investment in the solar supplier industry with UK manufacture of more of the equipment: solar cells, inverters, batteries etc. Particularly the currently enriched fossil fuel companies such as BP, Shell etc

4. Encourage investment in future energy generating technologies. There are many technologies being investigated as carbon free sources of electricity such as:

Blue and Green Hydrogen

Nuclear Fusion

SMR Nuclear Fission

Tidal Power

Some of these have still to be proven others (such as Tidal) are proven but require investment.

Policy: review with commercial financial and technical sources how these technologies can be developed in a timely manner.

We were delighted to see that the Milton Abbot/ Chillaton/Kelly (and surrounding districts) Neighbouhood Plan successfully passed the referendum stage on the 23^rd June.

235 residents voted in favour of the neighbourhood plan being used to help decide planning applications and 23 residents voted against it; a turnout of 31%.  The threshold for the MACK Plan to come into force was in excess of 50% of the vote so the 90.7% achieved is a strong endorsement of the plan. 

As well as having a significant impact on any future Planning Applications in the area the Plan also incorporates a number of Policies and proposed Community Actions which when implemented will provide a further level of environmental protection.

The Plan now moves to an implementation stage under the responsibility of Milton Abbot Grouped Parish council. MAGPC are in the process of establishing an Implementation Team under the leadership of James Hitchcock. We know that James would be delighted to receive any offers of help to assist in the implementation of the Plan. Please contact us at gv@stoneventures.co.uk and we can put you in contact with James if you wish to help.

MABRAKE will continue its support during the Implementation Stage as we have done throughout the 8 years it took to complete the MACKPlan.