12.04.2013 – Take NOTE the NIMBYs are going BANANAs!

A resurrected and revised planning application for wind turbines at nearby Toward has riled the residents of Bute these last few weeks. 18 out of 20 (90%) of Public Objections to the proposals mentioned in the Council’s ‘handling report’ on the application have come from residents of Bute, 12 of them (60%) from residents of Ascog!

Almost all of those from Bute (and all of those from Ascog) named in the Toward handling document have also objected to our own proposals for renewable energy generation at Ascog Farm.


©The Buteman

Everyone has heard of the phrase Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) and it’s a commonplace of planning that although people want power stations, sewage works, railway lines or even wind turbines they do not want them anywhere near where they live!

Given the opposition to the rather modest Toward proposals perhaps two other acronyms doing the rounds in planning circles spring to mind:

  • NOTENot Over There Either
  • BANANABuild Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

Given some of the ‘villagers’ earlier objections to proposals for a nursing home in Ascog or even the renewal of existing permission for house-building at the field next to South Park these acronyms could probably be joined by a whole new, special and Bute-specific one: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Ascog!