Monster windmills from Europe – the arguments in favour of this massive blot on our horizon are ultimately due to the government’s short term strategic thinking and knee-jerk reaction to meet its green energy quota in time for 2020.

The £3.6m would have been far better spent in revitalising our own industries and leading the world as a maritime nation in developing solutions using sea-power.

An array of British-engineered underwater, anchored turbines relying on predictable tidal flow would be far more appropriate than 200ft-high mechanical monsters relying on fickle winds. Maintenance would also be relatively straightforward compared to the maintenance of towering wind-machines.

Wind turbines were developed by land-locked European countries reliant on wind as their prime green energy source.

The reason we are buying these contraptions is because we have been too slow to develop sea-powered solutions of our own.

Scottish Power are aware of this, but my bet is the current, largely unreported, race between big corporations developing underwater sea-turbines up in Scotland will probably be won by a company such as Yamaha. So in 25 years when Navitus have packed up and left, Japan will be leading the world in tidal power and selling underwater turbines to us for more huge sums of money. Meanwhile our children will be looking out to sea at hundreds of monstrous rusting hulks wondering who is going to pay to decommission this outdated technology.

Mik Parsons,

Lowther Road,

Bournemouth