Fylde Hustings: Windfarm plans Part 2.
The Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Post and Blackpool Lead invited the candidates standing for the Fylde constituency at the upcoming general election to a hustings in which they fielded questions from voters.
The candidates standing for election on 4th July were each given time to answer questions from an audience at The Lowther Pavilion Theatre in Lytham.
Four out of the seven people on the ballot took part in the event with Cheryl Morrison (Alliance for Democracy and Freedom), Brendan Wilkinson (Green Party) and Brook Wimbury (Reform UK) all absent.
In order of appearance on stage:
ANNE AITKEN (Independent)
TOM CALVER (Labour)
MARK JEWELL (Liberal Democrats)
ANDREW SNOWDEN (Conservative Party)
The candidates standing for election on 4th July were each given time to answer questions from an audience at The Lowther Pavilion Theatre in Lytham.
Four out of the seven people on the ballot took part in the event with Cheryl Morrison (Alliance for Democracy and Freedom), Brendan Wilkinson (Green Party) and Brook Wimbury (Reform UK) all absent.
In order of appearance on stage:
ANNE AITKEN (Independent)
TOM CALVER (Labour)
MARK JEWELL (Liberal Democrats)
ANDREW SNOWDEN (Conservative Party)
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NewsTranscript
00:00And also, do you understand the strength of feeling that people have against this particular route?
00:05Absolutely, the strength of feeling.
00:08Funnily enough, BP on Friday said that they were going to stop all wind farms, the new wind farms.
00:16I don't know if that means our wind farm, they haven't put that down.
00:20But they have stopped it at the moment because there's so much opposition going across people's lands.
00:27I just think it can't be just one party that sorts it.
00:32Why can't it be a cross-party policy and everybody gets together?
00:37There has to be some other way to do it.
00:41Tom, just coming to you, obviously Labour Party policy is to decarbonise the National Grid by 2030.
00:47On projects like this, an inevitable consequence of that policy.
00:51Things need to be done quickly.
00:54I don't think doing that level of damage is inevitable.
00:57I think that's about choices and all politics is about choices and you can choose better.
01:02I think there's a few ways that we can benefit from this.
01:05First is we should be looking at those future manufacturing jobs.
01:08We have people who are already working with advanced materials in this constituency.
01:12That's what we make wind turbines out of.
01:14It's about time we looked at how we develop those skills and make sure that we build on our actually quite extensive manufacturing base in this constituency.
01:22If we were to choose a route through Stanna, that would put a large amount of clean power into the Hill House.
01:29Enterprise Zone, not in this constituency but certainly within commuting distance of it.
01:34That gives that Enterprise Zone something to attract industry.
01:37At the moment it's something of a quiet site when you look at what it's supposed to be doing.
01:44But above all I think we have an opportunity here to show at a time when as you say the grid needs decarbonising and that means more projects.
01:54To show that this can be done better and to set an example for the rest of the country.
01:59So that as the Labour Party develops its plans for net zero which is supported by the vast majority of people.
02:05We can show that the filed leads, that the filed can demonstrate how to get those benefits.
02:12On your point about unity across politics, I think it's really important we understand these are long term projects.
02:19These are projects that will last well beyond a parliament and we do need some cross party consensus on what we're going to do.
02:26Yet I'm happy to take lumps out of the previous MP for his poor showing.
02:31But I need to work with people from all political parties to make sure that the future is better for all of us.
02:39Tom thank you. Andrew if we could come back to you on this one. Tom after cross party consensus has he found it with you?
02:50Well for me I think the key thing is there is no benefit that could potentially come from this scheme that will outweigh the damage that it will do.
02:58We've all seen as planning goes through and section 106 monies whatever are agreed as part of planning approvals for various schemes.
03:07There is very very very rarely any planning scheme of this nature that any benefit that can be offered from the company will outweigh the damage that would be done.
03:18And I think a starting point, a real clear starting point has to be we can't start talking about what the potential benefits in the future might be.
03:28Because we look like we're already accepting it and we're not.
03:31And therefore for me you've got to hold the line that there are no benefits that will outweigh those businesses that will be lost, those farmlands and those parts of our greenbelt that will be irreversibly damaged.
03:45And that has got to be the line that we hold on this.
03:49In terms of cross party working, as police and crime commissioner, as a county councillor, I've always worked across parties to deliver what is needed for the public and for the betterment of public services.
04:02And that has always got to come, that sense of public service and duty is what should drive a politician, not the sense of political point scoring and ego.
04:12And for me therefore on this scheme and on all the issues affecting the farmland I will work with anybody if I'm elected who wants to work with me to stop this scheme but also then to make the farmland an even better place to live, work and study.
04:27Andrew thank you for that. Can we have a round of applause for the cross party consensus and also if you understand the strength of feeling of what seems like the vast majority of people in this room.
04:37So looking at the overall benefit of this, climate change is the biggest challenge that we all face.
04:44And I'm not against renewable forms of energy or wind farms.
04:49The issue here is the infrastructure needs to change from onshore generation to offshore generation with wind farms.
04:58That requires a different solution, it is a longer term solution and yes that will need cross party support.
05:06In terms of other benefits, some of the benefits in some of the other areas, up in the north east I mentioned earlier about the Dogger Bank scheme.
05:17Some of the benefits they have there is further funding for education in STEM subjects, the attraction of jobs etc etc.
05:29But whatever you do in terms of addressing climate change and getting to a net zero, you've got to take people with you and you can't ruin lives on the way.
05:40And as I said in my earlier response, I'm now convinced there are alternative solutions.
05:45I'm not a technical expert but I would certainly seek out, and it would probably be the Labour Minister, to understand how we can move this forward and put forward a different scheme that works for farm.
06:01Thank you Mark and thank you to each of you for your responses on that one.