Dave at the solar array
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Dave at the solar array
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I am an enthusiastic supporter of renewable energy and was, therefore, honoured to formally commission the biggest private solar array in the North East, which is in Blaydon.
This state of the art project takes energy from sunlight and transforms it into electricity. It shows that the North East is at the vanguard of pioneering new technologies that exploit renewable sources of energy. We need more projects like this is we are to tackle climate change, reduce our energy consumption and our bills at the same time. Sadly, this project could have been bigger if the Government hadn't ratted on plans to encourage the solar industry but it is still a fantastic start.
The company at the centre of the initiative, Inherent Energy has developed the skills base - with several high-quality jobs - and the supply chain needed to make this a reality.
Blaydon should be proud that it is leading the way and I shall keep up the pressure on ministers to reverse their policy to allow bigger such projects in the future. The sun can help power our daily needs.
I also want to help turn up the heat on the increasingly irritating practice of cold-calling. Many readers will have had the same experience. You are watching TV and the phone rings or a text arrives on your mobile from a company cold-calling to advise that you claim a refund for payment protection insurance or help you get compensation for an injury.
It's reckoned that thousands of people are being plagued by calls from claims vultures day in and day out. People who have tried to prevent them are still affected. The rules that are supposed to stop these nuisance calls are being ignored.
There has been an upsurge because billions of refunds for incorrectly sold payment protection insurance are available and these companies are anxious to take their cut which can be up to 25%, although it is easy enough for people to make their own claims and get all the compensation.
Worse still is that some of the more aggressive vultures are strong-arming people into paying a fee upfront on the promise of levels of compensation that don't get agreed. My view is that cold-calling needs to be banned completely.
Newcastle Chronicle and Journal
| Promoted by Paul Foy on behalf of Dave Anderson, both of St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Shibdon Road, Blaydon, NE21 5PT |