11/12/2011 The Politics Show South West


11/12/2011

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The business leader warning a two- speed Europe could affect funding

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in the region. And controversial cause to build hundred more wins to

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1809 seconds

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Irvine is here in the South West. - Hello and welcome to the Baltic

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show in the South West. Warnings of future funding for this region

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which could be in jeopardy, a direct consequence of the refusal

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to a new European treaty to save the euro. Tim Jones, can you just

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explain your concerns? The results of the Vito clearly are still being

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unravelled at the moment but the concern we have got is that we have

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invested very heavily over the European programmes and are relying

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very heavily on future European programmes from 2014 onwards.

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Another transitional programme which could benefit significantly

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Devon and Cornwall, similar amounts of money to which we have already

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had. Key components to regenerating the economy. If this spat with

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Europe is terminal, will this money still be available to us? This is

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to be answered quickly. Is it relationship to mood music rather

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than any legal problem? It is they relationships with dramas

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concerning at the moment, how the relationship with Europe will pan

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out from here. What the budgetary arrangements will be. We need to

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know that some of the damage we need to think about his have we

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still got a relationship with Europe for succession programmes?

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Can we still be planning for an additional amount of money to come

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through? A vital to the regeneration of the local economy

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is. We have had Objective One, objective two, it has been said we

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will never get anything like this again but what can we do?

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criteria we have been looking at, part of the transitional funding

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package has indicated that we would qualify, as Devon and Cornwall to

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fit the criteria and potentially similar amounts of money that

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Cornwall has had for the convergence programme, �500 million,

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Devon and Bristol have had about �100 million. We have expectations

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that similar amounts of money could come through but now we must revise

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those estimates. What should David Cameron have done? He said he

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needed to protect the City of London. There is a big picture here,

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we need to protect our own patch. We always feel we get short-changed

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by a national policy. In this case we need to be alert to the fact

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this could be a real problem. Jones, thank you. One of the most

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controversial if not the most controversial forms of alternative

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energy could be on the brink of expansion. In the car than planned

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the government aims to produce at least 30 per cent from renewable

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sources by 2020. While the wind Energy Group says the number of

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turbans and the South West alone could travel in this period. Cornel

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saw the first wind farm 20 years ago and Chris Huhne was there this

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bring. It is one of a string of wind farms across Cornwall, but

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they continue to divide opinion. Elsewhere in the region plans for a

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single turn a blind generate as much opposition as electricity. --

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Winter pine split public opinion, but if the government gets its way

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it seems they are here to stay. seems the perfect playground for

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wind. I would be a complete buffoon to disagree with it, we need to

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save the planet. For our children and future generations. You think

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wind is not the answer? They are unreliable and expensive. It will

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prove to be the biggest folly that this generation has had to stump up

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money for. Despite opposition this wind farm is about to get bigger,

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Scottish Power says far from being inefficient, the new double-height

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her Bines could create electricity for 11,500 homes per year. Dashed

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Looking for an 80 per cent emissions Cup by 2050. On a very

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windy day like this the arguments for wind energy might seem obvious,

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the government wants to create thousands more, the question is

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being asked where should they go? Of the South West 11 operational

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wind farms, nine are in Cornwall, around 100 turbines making up just

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a fraction of the entire winter capacity. The council was working

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on a plan to help development, but with only a handful more in the

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pipeline, is there scope for the county to do more? To reduce the

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need of for fossil fuels. Yes, according to the man responsible

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for greener policies. I don't think we will see thousands more turbines,

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but more. We need to protect our landscape, we need to protect the

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reasons why people love Cornwall. Why people live here and visit here.

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But we need a balance, or for energy cost and demand. We need to

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make sure we can produce energy in Cornwall to meet our own demands.

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Industry experts are welcoming the Government's commitments to onshore

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wind as part of a mix. It says it is vital that some cars and homes

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are run on electricity this way, and claims more turbines are

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inevitable. In the South West there are 105 onshore turbines at the

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moment, it could be that we see a couple of hundred more in the next

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few years. The Government's commitment to onshore wind is

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perfectly understandable, within the energy mix we need something

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over the next 10 years which will replace all of the All -- old coal

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powered stations. Onshore wind is the cheapest renewable commodity to

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fill the gap. Recently a graded, this site in north Cornwall became

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the first ever commercial wind farm in the UK back in 1991. The result

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of local opposition to a nuclear power station near by. The company

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running it now thinks it must involve smaller sites in the future.

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Relatively small compared to many other sites, especially up in

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Scotland. That is the future, that is developers much more scope for

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engaging with the community and making sure they benefit from sites

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like this. Others agree that community involvement will be key

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and the governor needs to do more to promote this. The penny is now

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dropping, utilities don't have the finances to see these developments

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through. The retail financial sector, i e, Joe Public, will be

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part of financing these schemes. That means involvement locally and

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people seem renewable energy projects as a place to see their

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investments, rather than a building society. With critics saying that

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low carbon wind can only realistically compete with fossil

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fuels if heavily subsidised by others, and our local people are

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upset by the effect on the landscape, the project could still

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be blown off course. The sustainable energy consultants

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for the South West is with me, and from Cambridge, I am joined by

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Martin little more from the scientific alliance. We heard in

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that film, the projection of up to 300 new Winter finds in the South

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West alone, presumably you view that as a bit of a nightmarish

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If we want energy security, I think wind is not the way. Although it

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can generate a significant amount of power, we don't know whether it

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will happen. Not generating power when it is wanted. Look at Scotland

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and the last couple of days, none of the large wind farms will have

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been generating any power because the wind was too strong for them to

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operate. Equally when you get the typical calm and cold spell in

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winter when we need most power, wind farms are not generating. They

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need fossil fuel back up on nuclear fuel back up. Would you agree with

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that projection of up to 300 more onshore to her bones? I think it

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was 300 in total, we have 105 at We didn't analysis three or four

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years ago, coming up to 2020, we came up with the number of 300,

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possibly up to 400. The limitations were about the number of site

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suitable and the difficulty of getting through plans. We expect to

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see a number of small sites, with seven-10 turbines. Quite small

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compared to Scotland. Is Mr live more right been that they don't cut

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the mustard in what we want them to We know at a good level when we can

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predict now, the ability to forecast is good. The wind is

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variable, nobody doubts that, it is buried and there are times when it

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is not strong enough and there are times when it is too strong for

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individual wind farms. But generally across the UK the

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majority are producing energy, and that is not unusual. We have always

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operated in the UK with back-up reserves in terms of the operating

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capacity and standby capacity. All forms of energy and, with a nuclear,

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gas or coal as a back-up. This is a different sort of mix we are

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entering into and we will have to look at grid, the way we manage the

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grid, and the way we bring together different forms of energy in the

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mix. A Martin Livermore, the point in the film, within this timescale,

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looking towards 2020... It is looking to deliver the goods within

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that time frame. It cannot, basically. A country with much more

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wind capacity than ours, Denmark, they produce about 20 per cent of

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energy from wind. If you look at what they consume, only about 10

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percent of what they can see him comes from wind. They are producing

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too much at the wrong time and are having to export it at two

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neighbouring countries at knock- down prices. When they need the

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power, they are importing it at a high price. We get to a point, I am

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not saying it cannot make some contribution, but you get to a

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point where it does not make sense to put any more in because you are

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not saving any generating capacity. How do we attain these targets? It

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can take decades to change. weaker revenue nuclear power

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station by 2020, and several during the decade. It is a long lead-in

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time and the government has been a bit slow in getting things off the

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mark. In the meantime, the reliable, cheap and efficient way of

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generating electricity is through gas turbines. Lower carbon

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emissions, than coal-fired stations, relatively efficient and they

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produce power when we want it and at an affordable price. The the

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government is proposing to build new power stations, I regret that.

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I think they should put more into developing alternative energy

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earlier and we are behind them in that. It is all about looking at

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the energy mix, nobody is suggesting we could rely on wind

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energy a loner. That is nonsense, basically. The example of Denmark

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is a good example, the need to have a better integrated grid system. We

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will have an environment where we will be buying and selling

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electricity across Europe. Alternative energy is the same as

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any form in that respect. Martin Livermore, you say the 2020 target

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can be met by building one more nuclear power station? I will not

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give an opinion as to whether the target can be met, but even if it

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can be met entirely by wins, it is debatable whether we could store

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enough wind turbines in that time. It would need something like five

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per working day to be installed, if they are producing according to

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plan, a lot of the time they are not necessarily producing, they

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will need an extra back-up. He will not be able to produce additional

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fossil power stations, you may have to build more just as the

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government is doing. Because some of the older ones will be closing.

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John, do you express a view as to whether this is achievable? I think

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we will struggle to make that target for 2020, onshore wind will

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be a part of that but we will require offshore wind Investment.

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The 2020 target is about whether we can get the finance for these

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schemes. We must drive down costs, cost is a big issue. We have got to

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reduce the costs. We are looking at an environment where gas prices are

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going up. Gas is not the cheapest form of energy at the moment but it

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will increase. New technologies, difficult to install, prices will

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be heavier. We are seeing those costs come down, onshore wind is

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more expensive than gas, but it is producing. Offshore wind is still

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very expensive, but with bigger turbines,... De renewed public

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money for this? Most forms of renewables require some subsidy,

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that is true. With nuclear, it is about what price it could be,

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people are talking about it being good value for money but that is

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based on a prediction which would cost a lot. We have not seen them

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built and we do not know what it would cost. I would be very

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interested to see what the actual numbers would be. It would be good

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to develop this discussion further but we are out of time

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unfortunately. Labour does not have many

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politicians elected in the South West, but one has said they need to

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work much harder in rural areas. A letter in May as the only Labour

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elected member in the Conservative lead District Council.

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Hello, it is Ben, your local councillor. How do you do?

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Cooper on his political manner, in an estate in Dartmouth where he has

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lived most of his life. I have thought, "thank goodness somebody

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young is on the council." it is not just his age, 25, which makes Ben

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unusual. It is his politics. He is the only Labour district councillor

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here. Labour in the rural areas are not up to scratch. We are talking

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about it now, which is good. Pockets of support, rural

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deprivation which Labour should really be talking about will stop

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in affluent Dartmouth, it sticks out, a big estate with 80 per cent

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social housing. Like many coastal towns and the South West, lots of

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employment in the town is seasonal. In winter, getting work is hard.

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Harder still in the current economic climate. A few minutes at

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a regular work club. It is all too apparent what the problems are.

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Chops it in Dartmouth, eight people coming in looking for work. Like

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much of the region there are plans for major housing developments.

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They are ambitious proposals and for some on the men's ward,

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alarming. Hundreds of houses will be built over the next few years,

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jobs are a big issue. Making sure what the employment units are going

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to do is important, making sure that people are moving in and they

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are a priority for locals. He says he will fight for what is best for

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his ward, but what can one man do when the odds are so stacked

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against him? A lone Labour voice in a Tory council. It is slightly

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different, I find the meetings fairly conservative. I can only try

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to persuade them to do some things differently. But in some proposals

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on the scrutiny Panels I sit on. It is tough work, a big mountain to

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climb but I hope we can achieve something. Already one of his ideas

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is to freeze the cost of the ferry which links Dartmouth and King-

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Smith. A key quarter -- commuter route. The cost does mount up, for

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normal families on lower incomes. It is really important we challenge

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them and to get the price down. While he is on his own politically,

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there is plenty of support. The owner of the cafe where he works

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was an independent town councillor. For her, the next generation must

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engage with politics, and that means more than voting. I think it

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is fantastic, he is young, enthusiastic, and he is

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representing a part of the committee which do not have a voice

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these days. I am so glad somebody of his age is interested in

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politics. For somewhere like Dartmouth, without a big cross-

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section of people, it is fantastic that he wants to do it and make a

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difference to people's lives which I hope he can do. What of the

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future? Ben says he has no ambition for higher office, his politics is

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closer to home. Ending the politics show in the South West for this

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