Hydropower at Allington

Letter in today's Kent Messenger below. Especially timely given the deluge and flood in Maidstone yesterday... think of all that power generation that is being wasted and how different the weather would be if we didn't rely on fossil fuels.

Dear Editor,

What welcome news the Council's plan for hydro electric power generation at
Allington Lock is. The use of the river Medway to generate carbon-free
renewable energy is to be thoroughly commended.

Maidstone Green Party has been calling for such a plan for the last two years and we are
really pleased to see the concept being taken seriously. There should be
enough power in the river to provide electricity for perhaps two
hundred houses when the river is flowing well.

The fight against climate change requires us to harness renewable energy
wherever possible, but it also needs us to reduce our total energy usage to
make sure that the power that we generate goes much futher. With rapidly
rising fuel bills, using less energy saves us large amounts of cash too.

Ian McDonald
Maidstone Green Party