I DEEPLY regret the experience of your reader from St Briavels returning from holiday to find the 'Resilience' turbine sitting where it was not supposed to be, and much more visible than she expected.

The purveyors of wind farms will tell the public almost anything they want to hear to gain planning consent and the 'photo montages' they produce are notoriously misleading. The turbine fought off a few years ago north of Lydney mysteriously kept moving in the various photographs until no-one was certain where it was intended to go. We were also shown views that understated its impact on the landscape.

The turbine at St Briavels will, I am sad to say, allow people to appreciate the enormous scale of those planned for around Lydney and along the Severn. They are larger, although their size changes (rather like the location) quite regularly. What is clear is that the bigger the turbine, the greater the profits, and the companies involved will maximise the opportunity to build as many turbines as possible to support the costs of infrastructure.

Your reader is correct in their assumption that there is every danger that now there is one, the energy industry will push for more. Remote places in Cumbria and Wales have become saturated, hence the need to look for new sites.

A recent advertisement, part of the slick approach used by energy companies, promoted the 'local benefits' – which were very few – and failed to mention the turbine was imported and creates very few jobs for its lifetime, which will be 25 years or longer.

The real risk is to our landscape that generates tourism worth well over £135 million a year and inward investment with companies looking for a sustainable quality environment in which to establish. For this reason decisions about wind energy planning and other renewables should be part of district council policy that allows a full and proper debate with the public.

I proposed this to the Forest of Dean Council at a full meeting over two years ago and Councillor Amos and Councillor Molyneux agreed to develop one.

Subsequently behind closed doors, probably with a mind to appeasing the coalition, it was decided we didn't need one. With energy companies once again banging on the door the council is caught unprepared and hasn't had the debate it should have with its councillors and public. Where's localism now?

If Councillor Molyneux wishes to put his house in order I am more than happy to sit on a group that plans a strategic approach to these issues for the council.

How many more people have to wake up to a nasty shock when they get back from their holidays?

– Alan Preest, (UKIP), Lydney North.