Well, it requires a level of community and long term thinking and investment that UK councils and government don't seem to have any more. Odd, since they managed it in the Victorian era when they built reservoirs all over the place to provide clean water to growing towns and cities and sewage systems to take it all away.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
If anyone knows Cornwall then they will know what it’s like around the Redruth area, it was all mined for tin and other minerals, the ground is a network of underground tunnels, people suddenly lose their houses due to subsidence. Half of these mines weren’t recorded, as they should have been, and I can foresee problems when they drill down 3 miles, that could cause more subsidence.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Just catching up: Fireworks - don't need to ban them, just make all ones for public sale the silent type. If the only noisy ones are the ones at organised displays, at least pet owners know when to expect them and how long they will last. Doesn't help the wildlife, except that the quantity and duration would decrease. We don't get much firework trouble out here in the Back of Beyond. We get the pheasant shoot instead.
Christmas - no. Not yet. Please. If you can buy someone a Christmas present in January sales, then it's obviously not something they either want or need, if they aren't going to buy it themselves in 12 months. So it may be cheap but it's still a waste of money. I'll consider it once we get to Advent but emphatically not before.
Geothermal - it's not necessary for any energy technology to be able to support the entire country before it's worthy of consideration. If every parish/borough made use of the energy resource within it's own boundaries before resorting to national infrastructure, fewer communities would be blighted by inappropriately industrial scale energy plants (such as massive incinerators, unending wind farms, huge solar farms, nuclear power stations) serving their neighbours' wasteful habits. I get really quite curmudgeonly about people being precious about their own bit of countryside and just assuming that Someone Else should be obliged to look out their window at whatever generates the electricity they rely on.
If that geo-thermal project can generate enough energy for a good sized part of Redruth - the community who will live with the drill - then it is definitely worth doing. It is the same process as fracking, but the pressures used and the geology it's applied to are very different. Shale is shallow and fragile, granite is deep and much harder to break up. The risks are still there, but far lower.
Second Homes - We are currently trying to sell the sort of properties that a few years ago would have been prime investor fodder - small houses in a town centre in a rural area. The agents have all reported that the government's recent tax changes regarding second homes has had a significant impact on that market. As a consequence the interest we've had so far has all been from people wanting to buy a house to live in. That has to be a Good Thing.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Well, it requires a level of community and long term thinking and investment that UK councils and government don't seem to have any more. Odd, since they managed it in the Victorian era when they built reservoirs all over the place to provide clean water to growing towns and cities and sewage systems to take it all away.
Cornwall Council have invested a substantial amount of money in that geothermal project, as have the EU. Post B****t, they will have to replace the EU funding with private money in order to expand the scheme, should it prove workable
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
The good people of Cornwall voted Leave, ( despite being the greatest county recipient of EU money ) so presumably they'll be more than happy to make up the shortfall with their own money.( if they ever stop saying " but we'll still get our subsidies , won't we ?)
Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Fireworks - don't need to ban them, just make all ones for public sale the silent type. If the only noisy ones are the ones at organised displays, at least pet owners know when to expect them and how long they will last. Doesn't help the wildlife, except that the quantity and duration would decrease. We don't get much firework trouble out here in the Back of Beyond. We get the pheasant shoot instead.
Christmas - no. Not yet. Please. If you can buy someone a Christmas present in January sales, then it's obviously not something they either want or need, if they aren't going to buy it themselves in 12 months. So it may be cheap but it's still a waste of money. I'll consider it once we get to Advent but emphatically not before.
Geothermal - it's not necessary for any energy technology to be able to support the entire country before it's worthy of consideration. If every parish/borough made use of the energy resource within it's own boundaries before resorting to national infrastructure, fewer communities would be blighted by inappropriately industrial scale energy plants (such as massive incinerators, unending wind farms, huge solar farms, nuclear power stations) serving their neighbours' wasteful habits. I get really quite curmudgeonly about people being precious about their own bit of countryside and just assuming that Someone Else should be obliged to look out their window at whatever generates the electricity they rely on.
If that geo-thermal project can generate enough energy for a good sized part of Redruth - the community who will live with the drill - then it is definitely worth doing. It is the same process as fracking, but the pressures used and the geology it's applied to are very different. Shale is shallow and fragile, granite is deep and much harder to break up. The risks are still there, but far lower.
Second Homes - We are currently trying to sell the sort of properties that a few years ago would have been prime investor fodder - small houses in a town centre in a rural area. The agents have all reported that the government's recent tax changes regarding second homes has had a significant impact on that market. As a consequence the interest we've had so far has all been from people wanting to buy a house to live in. That has to be a Good Thing.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.