Friends of the Earth group backs hydro power plan for Saltaire

10:00am Tuesday 23rd October 2012 in News

The site of the proposed hydro power scheme The site of the proposed hydro power scheme

Supporters of a controversial project to build a £1.2 million hydro power turbine at the heart of Saltaire’s World Heritage Site have launched an e-petition following calls to scrap the project.

Baildon Friends of the Earth group has started the online petition to show its support for the planned scheme on the Roberts Park side of Saltaire weir.

That is despite fears from Saltaire Village Society and the Friends of Roberts Park that plans for the turbine would “ride roughshod” over the protection given to the village to recognise its importance as one of the district's most important historical assets.

The e-petition supporting the scheme has been signed by more than 70 people in its first four days.

Lead petitioner John Anderson, of Baildon Friends of the Earth said: "This is an important issue. Bradford Council has already installed photovoltaics (solar panels) and biomass boilers. This is its first projected hydro-electricity generating installation. We need a variety of means of generating electricity renewably.”

The petition states that the proposed Saltaire hydro power scheme will be “unobtrusive and an additional attraction for visitors to Roberts Park”.

An alternative e-petition, calling for the plans to be scrapped, has attracted 33 signatures since it went live last month.

Mr Anderson said during a presentation and consultation over the scheme, 75 per cent of those attending voted in favour and fewer than 10 per cent were against, with the rest remaining neutral.

He said no formal plans had yet been submitted and there would be an opportunity for people to comment during the planning process.

Saltaire bookseller David Ford, who has signed the petition in support, said: “This is the type of renewables scheme that is most suited to Saltaire's environment and resources and it gives Saltaire residents an opportunity to contribute towards our international targets of switching to renewables and a sustainable energy policy that will ensure enough power to light and heat our homes in the future.”

Objectors Saltaire Village Society and the Friends of Roberts Park have said that the park was given to the City of Bradford Corporation in 1921 by Sir James Roberts on the condition it would be kept “for the purposes only of a public park and recreational ground.”

Comments(23)

Bornagain2him says...
10:37am Tue 23 Oct 12

Why not build it by the Weir at Hirst Wood, it would then not be as big a blot on the landscape. It seems barmy spending all that money on Roberts Park, and then building something so much out of keeping with the area. But if they do go ahead it, does that mean that the householders in the village will be able to install solar panels and ground heat systems, as these too are 'eco' friendly.

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Albion. says...
10:54am Tue 23 Oct 12

Bornagain2him wrote:
Why not build it by the Weir at Hirst Wood, it would then not be as big a blot on the landscape. It seems barmy spending all that money on Roberts Park, and then building something so much out of keeping with the area. But if they do go ahead it, does that mean that the householders in the village will be able to install solar panels and ground heat systems, as these too are 'eco' friendly.
Do you actually know what it will look like?
I don't, so I find it difficult to make any sort of decision, I am drawn to be in favour of it in principle.

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Dragon Saddle says...
11:28am Tue 23 Oct 12

The article fails to mention that there are well over 500 signatures 'offline' against the proposal.

A south bank option and a community share scheme would get a lot more people on board.

http://saltairescrew
ed.wix.com/saltaire-
screwed#!find-out-mo
re/c24w6

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Salty Bantam says...
12:11pm Tue 23 Oct 12

It all depends how imposing any structure would be, and what other effect it might have on wildlife. Apart from that it sounds ok in principle. We all need cheaper electricity 'cos the greedy Power companies rip-off everyone. All the Power companies need to Nationalized, but will Cameron do this? No will he hellers like, and neither will Milliband either. England has become slaves to multi-national companies.

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Bone_idle18 says...
12:19pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Saltair is a great place for such a scheme, if it wasn't for an industrialists vision it wouldn't even exist, maybe that same vision needs to be applied in this case!

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Bornagain2him says...
1:01pm Tue 23 Oct 12

No 'Albion' I dont know what it would look like, other than from an artist's impression. But what I do know is that it wont look Victorian, so would definitely stick out like a sore thumb in the UNESCO site.

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Bone_idle18 says...
1:24pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Bornagain2him wrote:
No 'Albion' I dont know what it would look like, other than from an artist's impression. But what I do know is that it wont look Victorian, so would definitely stick out like a sore thumb in the UNESCO site.
Pretty similar to how the massive mill stuck out when it was built in a lush green valley eh?

Maybe a ban of all cars from the streets of Saltaire, and satellite dishes, TV aerials, electric lighting etc, because none of those are particularly Victorian :)

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Albion. says...
1:26pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Bornagain2him wrote:
No 'Albion' I dont know what it would look like, other than from an artist's impression. But what I do know is that it wont look Victorian, so would definitely stick out like a sore thumb in the UNESCO site.
I can't help thinking that old Titus would have thought it a great idea.
I wonder what folk thought when he started building all over the riverbank.

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Irish Terrier says...
1:50pm Tue 23 Oct 12

I live on the edge of this village, and feel privileged to do so. I take it this scheme will be an Archimedes Screw. Have the Saltaire Village Society along with Friends of Roberts Park, looked at other schemes that have involved this and the advantages it has bought to those communties. Titus Salt had a vision and acted upon it, to leave a legacy. Will the above people take their blinkers off and think about a legacy they would like to leave behind, for the future of other people like Titus Salt.

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RonnieBarker says...
3:56pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Those of us who object are not 'nimbys'' or blinkered. We take the legislation that protects Saltaire seriously. There was a reason that it was protected. The legacy we are left with is a WHS. forward thinking planners in the 60's would have had Saltaire flattened in the name of progress. The park survived because Saltaire people stood up to the council. This is why it is not a bypass.
As a saltaire home owner I am expected to abide by the planning restrictions. There are no upvc windows or satallite dishes.
We have spent months researching our objections it is not a knee jerk reaction. There is another option for power generation under New Mill.
Just where Titus designed it to be!
Denys Salt and Saltaire History Club have joined us in our objections.

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collos25 says...
3:58pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Any energy project must meet certain criteria how much energy in 12 months will it produce how much will it cost to purchase how much will it cost per annum to run what is its life cycle what is its payback period.This project fails dismally on all counts power is expensive enough without subsidizing it.I have been in the energy business for years and believe me this is a no goer if it is built then someone is going to pay many thousands over its lifetime in subsidies and will not produce a fraction of the power that is been mooted about..

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collos25 says...
4:08pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Any energy project must meet certain criteria how much energy in 12 months will it produce how much will it cost to purchase how much will it cost per annum to run what is its life cycle what is its payback period.This project fails dismally on all counts power is expensive enough without subsidizing it.I have been in the energy business for years and believe me this is a no goer if it is built then someone is going to pay many thousands over its lifetime in subsidies and will not produce a fraction of the power that is been mooted about..

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Albion. says...
4:18pm Tue 23 Oct 12

RonnieBarker wrote:
Those of us who object are not 'nimbys'' or blinkered. We take the legislation that protects Saltaire seriously. There was a reason that it was protected. The legacy we are left with is a WHS. forward thinking planners in the 60's would have had Saltaire flattened in the name of progress. The park survived because Saltaire people stood up to the council. This is why it is not a bypass.
As a saltaire home owner I am expected to abide by the planning restrictions. There are no upvc windows or satallite dishes.
We have spent months researching our objections it is not a knee jerk reaction. There is another option for power generation under New Mill.
Just where Titus designed it to be!
Denys Salt and Saltaire History Club have joined us in our objections.
Satellite dishes are permitted if they are not visible from the front (behind a chimney stack for instance).
This wouldn't be knocking anything down or flattening anything.
I myself was a Saltaire property owner during the period of the suggested by-pass and indeed during the pre-Silver period when the mill stood empty.

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RonnieBarker says...
4:33pm Tue 23 Oct 12

It will however mean the removal several mature trees...not to mention significant health and safety risk next to one of the busiest play areas in the district. There are other options for the siting of this project that won't impact on the park or play area .

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Bone_idle18 says...
5:05pm Tue 23 Oct 12

What are the H&S risks? Children are at risk near a river anyway, I can't see the additional danger.

I for one would visit the site to see the turbine, I think they're great feats of engineering and very much in keeping with Titus' vision.

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Bornagain2him says...
5:53pm Tue 23 Oct 12

I totally agree about the cars and the dishes. But the mill is Victorian, and the reason for Saltaire being there in the first place.

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RonnieBarker says...
6:20pm Tue 23 Oct 12

If the government changes it's energy feed in tariffs as it proposes to do, it will not be viable. A senior council officer has had to admit this.
Returns when included with the carbon offset of building the project mean that it is not as green as we might think it is.

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Paul Marfell says...
10:05am Wed 24 Oct 12

I for one like the idea of modern technology being used in a way that blends with a Victorian environment. One view shows the weir being obscured by the raised land but I would expect the view from the raised land to make the weir appear even more impressive. I believe that several alternatives have been considered and discounted so I would not be surprised to hear that if this one doesn't happen then none will be built. There are still a lot of questions to be asked and work done before it can go ahead but I am in favour of such schemes.

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Paul Marfell says...
10:13am Wed 24 Oct 12

If/when a planning application is submitted it will be open for comment. Don't assume that if you have signed one of the e-petitions, for or against, that this will be taken into account within the application. Keep an eye open for the planning application (http://www.baildon.
org.uk/maps/planning
/print.php?cat=New%2
0Plans) and comment on the Bradford Public Access site.

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InterestedLocal76 says...
6:03pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Dragon Saddle wrote:
The article fails to mention that there are well over 500 signatures 'offline' against the proposal.

A south bank option and a community share scheme would get a lot more people on board.

http://saltairescrew

ed.wix.com/saltaire-

screwed#!find-out-mo

re/c24w6
Maybe the HNS Trust should be challenged as to why they didn't pursue the project when they looked into it a few years ago. Probably due to the fact that it would likely be a lot more (and maybe prohibitively) expensive.

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InterestedLocal76 says...
6:06pm Thu 1 Nov 12

RonnieBarker wrote:
It will however mean the removal several mature trees...not to mention significant health and safety risk next to one of the busiest play areas in the district. There are other options for the siting of this project that won't impact on the park or play area .
Does anyone know how many mature trees were removed during the renovation of the park a few years ago? The feasibility study identifies that felling should be mitigated against by a planting scheme at a ratio of 2:1.

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flick2 says...
1:52am Sat 3 Nov 12

"Maybe the HNS Trust should be challenged as to why they didn't pursue the project when they looked into it a few years ago. Probably due to the fact that it would likely be a lot more (and maybe prohibitively) expensive."

The New Mill proposal was cheaper than Robert's Park scheme, it's just there was very little government support for renewable energy at the time.

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