Island resident Tanya Rebel shares this open letter to all Isle of Wight councillors with VB readers. In her own words. Ed
Dear Councillors,
During last Full Council Meeting one of the Councillors from the ruling group told one of the Independent Councillors to get her brain in gear, the reason being that she had questioned changes to public question time. I will not go into this further, but it made me think.
If this Councillor urges others to get their brains sorted, then I wonder why he supports a Cabinet that encourages a risky and costly PFI deal which now will lead to the building of an asphalt plant along the beautiful river Medina with all the pollution that entails?
Moreover, this same Cabinet supports the building of an industrial sized biomass plant along the said river, which will get all its fuel from abroad resulting in a substantial carbon footprint as well as further uglification and pollution of its surroundings. As we know, there are no safe levels for small particulates and the asphalt + biomass plant will spout them out as well as many other nasty – often carcinogenic – chemicals.
All this will happen near to a sensitive eco-habitat, along a beautiful cycletrack and near to housing. The prevailing winds will carry most of the pollution eastwards towards Wootton, Binstead, Whippingham and East-Cowes, where the residents feel horribly neglected and bypassed by the current ruling group. This wil bode good for next year elections indeed!
If this does not alert you, think of tourism and imagine the following scenario: A tourist decides to cycle on the beautiful Isle of Wight: Arriving in Cowes she finds no Tourist Information, as it has been closed.
If she arrives on a Tuesday or Wednesday the library will be closed too, so no point in asking for help there either. She decides to cycle to Newport along the beautiful river Medina and the first thing she sees (and smells) is an asphalt plant with lorries going to and fro.
A while further the colossal shape of the Vestas Building dooms up – not a particularly enticing sight either – and to the right of that is a 75 meter high chimney belonging to a Biomass Plant spouting out pollution… Welcome to the Isle of Wight!
I seriously wonder who it is that needs to get their brains in gear here… After all, I thought we were seriously working toward Eco-Island status, which would mean focussing on truly sustainable solutions such as solar, tidal and – in certain places – wind energy as well as massive structural investment in public transport and cycle links.
The cyclepath from Cowes to Newport is one of those already existing cycle links and it should be treasured. Above all, river habitats, natural beauty, air and water quality should be protected as the assets they are.
No amount of jobs in the world can excuse us polluting and uglifying our surroundings any more: It is time to make Eco-Island come true for real. This can be done by creating opportunities for truly green jobs, which protect and enhance this island’s natural surroundings and beauty. The two can go together, if we use our brains and hearts in conjunction.
What are we waiting for?
Yours sincerely,
Tanja Katarina Rebel
Image: Dierk Schaefer under CC BY 2.0
