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Green campaigner backs lake fight
4:36pm Tuesday 12th June 2007
Friends of the Earth UK director Tony Juniper has added his weight to the campaign to save Radley Lakes.
The old gravel pits, under threat from RWE npower's plans to dump thousands of tons of spent fuel ash from Didcot power station into Thrupp Lake, were a childhood haunt for Mr Juniper when he lived in Cowley during the 1970s.
Mr Juniper, who spent three hours visiting the site yesterday with members of the Save Radley Lakes group, is supporting the campaign to register the lakes as a Village Green, which would protect them from development.
The inquiry into the application resumes next Wednesday at Radley College.
Mr Juniper said RWE npower should find more responsible ways of dealing with its waste. He said: "Filling these lakes with ash is lazy and is an outdated practice. They would not be able to do this in Germany where they are based, so why do they think they can do it here?"
"It makes me angry that the waste of energy and emissions causing climate change are destroying a place that was of enormous value to me as a boy.
"Radley Lakes were my childhood haunts and I am now haunted by the impending destruction.
"Didcot Power Station will be be shut down in 2015 and unless RWE npower changes tack or the area is registered as a Village Green then destruction of the lakes will be its legacy.
"These lakes are of enormous importance for both local people and wildlife and the company needs to respect that or it will forever be in the environmental hall of shame."
Your Say YourOxford
Physicist, says...
11:40am Wed 13 Jun 07
But I have a gripe with the Mail, Herald and Oxford Times. As of about a couple of months ago they stopped referring to Radley Lakes and started talking about old gravel pits at Radley. From what Anne of Abingdon tells us, that is obviously the spin from the RWE npower spin machine. But we expect more independence from our local newspapers. We do not expect them to swallow such spin. Call them lakes, please. That is what they are.
I can give other examples when nqo newspapers have followed the npower press release in detail and tacked on a few words from Save Radley Lakes . Fortunately that was not the case this time, but even in the above article, they are not lakes but gravel pits. Save Radley Lakes protests at this. We do not intend to change our name to Save Radley Gravel Pits!
Lakesaver, says...
10:45pm Wed 13 Jun 07
They are making the most out of their ageing dinosaur power station before it is forced to close down, unless they can find a wrinkle in the legislation.
I heard something to the effect that they were trying to get round the large power plant directive from the EU so they could continue to burn coal - and we wonder why the rumour about a nuclear power station at Didcot came into the news - Is it so we will all embrace their coal powered generation without a whimper?
By the way in 2005 they said they had no alternative but to use Thrupp Lake - that alternative - or the lack of it - has not seen them close the power station down as they threatened Oxfordshire County Council!
Laker, 401-311 says...
10:56pm Wed 13 Jun 07
This is not just a local issue. It is about Didcot being the fourth most polluting Power Station in the UK (according to the recent WWF survey) and up among the dirty thirty top polluting stations in Europe. Didcot could redeem themselves, if they recycled their ash as a component of concrete as other stations do. They would not only save Radley Lakes but would also save the equivalent of 5% of their CO2 emissions into the bargain, by replacing material produced by the cement kilning process. It is a win-win opportunity for them!
Physicist, says...
3:24am Mon 18 Jun 07
The visit of Tony Juniper to Radley Lakes was the visit of one of the most significant players on the environmental scene. What is the matter with Newsquest? There can only be two reasons to omit the article from the Didcot Herald 1) the editor thought that no-one in Didcot was interested can it really be true that the actions of an international company based locally in Didcot are of no interest to Didcot residents? 2) the editor has been persuaded by RWE npower not to publish anti-npower articles in the Didcot Herald. Neither reason is palatable. Or is it possible that the editor will realise that a mistake has been made and give a fuller article next week?
BBC Radio 4 thought the visit of Tony Juniper was worth a visit from the Shared Earth team. Their broadcast will probably go out next Friday afternoon at 3 pm on Radio 4. There is still time for Newsquest to rectify their omission. Watch this space, but don't hold your breath.
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Anne, Abingdon says...
10:24pm Tue 12 Jun 07