Campaigner debates wind turbine issues on Newsnight
A wind farm protester from Northamptonshire has opened up the debate on turbines by going head-to-head with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband live on Newsnight.
Adrian Snook, chief executive of the Stop the Spin campaign against wind farm proposals in Northamptonshire, was invited onto the flagship BBC Two programme on Wednesday, and was interviewed by host Nick Robinson.
Mr Snook, whose group has flagged up nine prospective developments in the Daventry area, debated the pros and cons of wind farms with Mr Miliband and chief executive of Greenpeace, Robin Oakley.
The debate came in light of the closure of Britain's only turbine factory on the Isle of Wight, with owner company Vestas citing a lack of demand as the reason.
Mr Snook told Nick Robinson on the programme: "This issue of 'not in my back yard' crops up time and time again. Local democracy is exactly that – it's local."
He said on the show that he was opposed to the plans for Daventry for "a wide range of reasons" citing the proximity, the visual impact and noise issues.
Energy and Climate Change secretary Ed Miliband said: "We have to persuade people that the biggest threat to the countryside is not wind turbines, it's climate change, because that will really spoil Britain's countryside.
"We have to win an argument with people that the countryside is not an ever non-changing thing, it will change and it will adapt as it has over many years."
Mr Snook told the Chronicle and Echo after the programme: "Mr Miliband is a professional politician and it was a live programme so it was quite challenging to put across our views.
"Unfortunately that was cut short and I wasn't able to explain some of those issues. I did speak to Mr Miliband afterwards and he was open to having future discussion."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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