90% of Stroud District say yes to changing Stroud’s energy future
The results are in, and people in the Stroud District have voted overwhelmingly for a future powered by wind.
The vote ran for a total of nine weeks and with nearly 1,000 votes cast, 89.9% of votes cast answered ‘yes’ to the question, “Should we make 50% of Stroud’s electricity from local wind energy?”.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to give us their view, either online or by post.
5050 has given a voice to the silent majority in favour of powering Stroud with wind. The vote was intended to kick-start the debate about our energy future in the Stroud District and demonstrate to the Council what people in the area really think.
The need for us to harness renewable energy in the UK is clear and compelling. Firstly we have the looming global energy crisis – the world is running out of fossil fuels, our own North Sea is all but depleted, and we rely on increasingly unstable parts of the world for our energy. Secondly we can’t afford to burn fossil fuels anymore, it’s the biggest single cause of Climate Change in the UK – and that threatens our ability to live on this planet.
Ecotricity’s first ever turbine was built right here. Thirteen years have gone by since then and it’s still the only turbine in the District – in the County in fact. We all need to be taking more action, and more quickly, the climate won’t wait. Climate change and energy security are such pressing issues, much more has to be done to enable wind energy in all parts of the country.
The survey results echo our experiences in other parts of the country, where there is ‘massive but passive’ support for our wind farm plans. Opinion polls consistently tell the same story – generally upwards of 80 per cent of people in every opinion poll survey ever undertaken in the UK support wind energy, including in their own backyard. The Stroud 5050 campaign has proved that Stroud District is no exception, and the public will is there to make a change.
We’re really chuffed with the result, but we also know this isn’t the end of the road. It’s an important step to making sure that the voice of the silent majority gets properly heard in Stroud. These are our thoughts, we’d love to hear yours…
