LYDNEY residents packed into the Youth and Community Centre at Naas Lane to hear about ambitious plans to provide the town with sustainable energy.
And there was broad agreement that three main schemes – four large turbines on the canal embankment, a biomass-burning power generator and a hydro-electric generator on the canal overflow – would also help dock regeneration.
Additional plans to make an educational resource showcasing alternative energy were also welcomed.
Graham Ayling of the Severn and Wye Energy Association told the meeting the turbines would be big – 70 metres to the tops of the towers and 100 metres to the tips of the blades. An alternative would be five to nine smaller turbines.
The hydroelectric scheme would not produce a great deal of power but would serve to demonstrate the technology.
The whole development would go a long way towards making the town a pioneer in providing its own power needs.
"We really do want to hear what people think of these proposals and address any reservations about them," he said. The consultation period of the project closes on December 14 and a questionnaire is available at the library and other outlets for people to give their views.
The meeting also heard a passionate plea from Roger Wade of the Environment Agency, which owns the dock area, to make a start on its regeneration.
Other aspects being investigated under the scheme were solar panels, energy saving through insulation, composting as a means of gas production and utilising methane from the old landfill site. Concerns were raised from the floor about the visual aspect of turbines and the noise they might make, CO2 emissions form the burner and effects on wildlife.
There was also a criticism that the people of Lydney were not being well informed of proposals under way in the energy project, the Markets and Coastal Towns Initiative and the Docks Regeneration Partnership, all of which the speakers promised to address.