However, it's also especially worth noting his third point ie "any industrial installation presents some risk in principle.

Planners have to weigh this up against existing risks and the risks of the alternatives".

Given there are no existing risks and the real alternative is for Asda to buy in to an offshore (or even a remote inland) windfarm then the alternative offers no risk either.

They can still plug it into the National Grid so the green benefit is the same and there is no real loss to Asda (other than their earning potential I presume).

Thankfully the WNDC saw it this way too when they sensibly declined the application.
Sheila Griffiths,
Paget Close,
Great Houghton.

Trust issue with our scientists
Few deny that global warming exists, any less than pollution problems, ecological malpractice and massive use of the finite resource of fossil fuel.

What bothers me is whether mankind is directly responsible for global warming.

It is claimed that scientists have demonstrated this, while ignoring the fact that scientists have also told us there were four ice ages, implying four ages of significant global warming; a period of mediaeval global warming is historically documented.

Thus global warming is a natural phenomenon.

Why are we as individuals being persuaded to watch our carbon footprint to save the planet, when the biggest cause of carbon pollution appears to be the clearance of forestry and other vegetation by corporations?

Roger Helmer, MEP, has recently drawn attention to this, raising doubts of the influence of man in global warming and this is referred to on his website as being a deception.

Most scientists, directly or indirectly, are in the pay of the governments or big business; there is a trust issue.

There is clearly need for open debate on the topic, yet this is not taking place, and opposition is ridiculed.

I firmly believe that some top politicians want us to concentrate on the environment issue to distract us from things such as the Lisbon Treaty and ID cards.

The recent economic problems only provide a greater need for a smokescreen.
C A Bricher,
Broadmead Avenue, Northampton.

Why should we subsidise site?
As a taxpayer, to say that I am not very happy about the compensation to be paid to travellers on the Ecton site is a gross understatement. This money is to be paid because the borough council supposedly "mismanaged" repair work.

The Government requires councils to provide sites, both permanent and transitory, and local taxpayers have no say in this decision.

My sincere hope is that, if the Conservatives win the next General Election, they will reverse such policies and consider the approach taken in the Irish Republic in relation to travellers.

The Government needs to remember that travellers choose their way of life, therefore why should the taxpayer subsidise them?

The help given by Sally Keeble would be appreciated more if it was targeted towards those people in the community who are being so severely hurt by her Government's policies, but as they are in the silent majority, no help is forthcoming.

Part of Mrs Keeble's constituency has been fighting to keep land from traveller occupation in Kingsthorpe.
Peter Minney,
Irondale Close, Northampton.

Tiny island at bursting point
In response to Mr Haddon's recent comments as to why some people in this country should worry about border controls, when in
history, he asserts that we British have invaded the world, he misses one vital point.

Most people in England (and I purposely discount Wales and Scotland, as they are not nearly so affected), are worried primarily by numbers.

We are a tiny island, with 50 million or so people crammed into it, schools overcrowded, hospitals at bursting point, not enough GPs, can't get a dentist, increasing areas of our countryside being slabbed over for motorways, housing estates or business parks and seemingly no end in sight to it.

In history, however, the British went

out to places like Canada, Australia, Africa and the Americas, which were vast, near-empty places, which they developed into countries that the rest of the world now flock to live in.

More recently, British citizens have gone to live in places like Spain, France and Portugal, where, either in retirement or in business, they have no financial dependency on those countries.

This cannot be said of many recent migrants to our shores.
P Purkis,
Moulton.

Ken Dodd . . . one of the last greats
I was glad to hear that Niki Paterson (Viewpoint, August 9) had a good time at Northampton's Derngate when she saw her comic hero, Lee Evans.

He is good with his own brand of slapstick humour, but all he seems to do is fall over, purposely, like a modern-day Norman Wisdom.

He's so breathless I can't understand what he mutters.

My favourite stand-up comedian, without doubt, is Ken Dodd.

He can crack jokes until the cows come home! He can really sing with his great trained voice, is a talented ventriloquist, using his Diddy Men from Notty Ash, but most of all he can captivate an audience, without smut.

He runs over his schedule every time I have seen him at Derngate, because the people can't stop laughing and don't want to go away!

He's one of the few "greats" left, in my view.
Keith Jackson,
Tavistock Close, Northampton.