Hydro Electricity on our Rivers

[unclejonsson]

The public object by default to wind turbines but the view of hydropower is prima facie good. The truth is the exact opposite.

[barbel]

Been a while since I posted but these hydros are being built on the goyt.

Just yesterday work on clearing trees started at the stringers weir site in Stockport so I went down today to have a look around and I got talking to a chap that saw the cutting of the trees next to the weir and he told me that from the first tree they cut down bats started flying around that must have been roosting in the tree and he also point out that gray wagtails are building a nest in the weir wall and also pointed out that dippers are living in the weir as well.

I saw both the wagtails and dippers today but no bats.
The wagtails are building a nest in a hole on the wall that will be used in the hydro project and the dippers seem to be going behind the falling water of the weir to god knows where

Are these birds and bats protected from this type of disturbance and should they being doing this kind of work at this very important time of year.

[markp]

Originally Posted by barbel

Are these birds and bats protected from this type of disturbance and should they being doing this kind of work at this very important time of year.

Might be an idea to get in touch with the Cheshire Bat Group.

(Cheshire Bat Group RECORD)

As far as I understand it, cutting down a tree used by hibernating bats is a criminal offence.

[Dogghound]

You should contact natural England as this sounds very dodgy, bat roost and birds nests should not be damaged like this, they are protected.

[barbel]

H2ope do seem a bit rough, they are the same people that installed New Mills and Settle hydro and a quick look in the news shows the problems both sites have.

I reported them for pollution of the goyt with liquid concrete and over abstraction from the river at the otterspool hydro site in Stockport, search YouTube for my vids of this.

I have called all bodies now and I'm meeting local bat pro today to see if they are felling trees over the weekend.

Councils just seem desperate to do anything green and these community hydro schemes fit the bill perfect for them and they have to do is give it planning permission.

[unclejonsson]

Originally Posted by barbel

Councils just seem desperate to do anything green and these community hydro schemes fit the bill perfect for them and they have to do is give it planning permission.

Not my council. My council have visited our hydro-power project and are in full receipt of the facts with regards their worth. A local project to install a micro-hydro has been kicked out after I proved the environmental harm it would cause and how little lecky it would actually produce.

[barbel]

Not Stockport council, they just wanted on the wagon ASAP even with the clear very poor output figures from a hydro install on the same river up in New Mills.

Now we have 2 on the way.

[unclejonsson]

Stockport Council bailed on the original idea presented by H2OPE and it was Mr Body (Friends of the Earth) and his other two monkies (Sean and Maggie) who jumped on the band wagon and snatched defeat from a non workable, badly sited, very noisy installation.

[smokeyjofencing]

Try living next to a leaking nuclear power station then! You would soon change your tune.

Cancer here is on the rise. Rare cancers are now actually common down here, these animals and birds would stand no chance with all this contamination.

You NIMBY's should hjave waste buried next door to you like we have. We never even got a say in it.

I would rather a turbine or hydro scheme than what we have right now.

[unclejonsson]

I am sorry you have a leaking power station 'in your back yard', but this doesn't justify the adoption of another environmentally harmful source of power, especially when that source can only provide 0.5% of the nations needs at best.