Going back a few weeks there was a letter from a friend of mine in this paper who expressed his thoughts after an attempt by him and a few like-minded people to have a single community wind turbine erected had failed.

Having surveyed the letters page for a number of weeks afterwards, I was surprised to find absolutely no response. I can only deduce from this that the points he made in this letter were fully agreed upon by one and all and that what he said was spot on.

So, why is it East Lothian Council and the Scottish Government bend over backwards to allow and support the erecting of huge swathes of turbines through the Lammermuirs, with profits mostly going to share holders, when they can’t support the erecting of one smaller turbine from which all profits go to local community projects?

I agree that maybe the proposed site wasn’t the right one and all legitimate objections to such constructions should be upheld but surely the council should be bending over backwards to find a site that wouldn’t raise any objections. I don’t get it.

All governments and councils have a commitment to becoming as carbon neutral as possible and we all know that they are strapped for cash. Here is a proposal that would clearly tick the first box whilst providing cash that might enable things to be done locally that the council can’t afford to do; like making that waste land by the community centre into a beautiful garden, employing a local gardener to look after it; or making the East Beach area more presentable with a proper car park (free) and some toilets maybe; or doing up the Corn Exchange as a community space so that local groups like the Lyric Group didn’t have to pay exorbitant prices to put on a show.

The people behind this project are people who live in and love Dunbar and East Lothian and believe, as I do, that most areas that govern our lives are better done locally, because it is more sustainable and is the only way we can gain more control over our lives.

I urge others to show support for the idea of a community-owned wind turbine.

Chris Eden Dunbar