Power from the ground

That the belief of former media baron Eddy Shah, who is looking to build a 100-home leisure village at his Wiltshire Golf and Country Club near Wootton Bassett.

Proposals for the £12m development, which include a number of environmentally-friendly features, will be discussed tonight by Wootton Bassett Town Council's planning committee.

Mr Shah believes the development would bring investment into the town and also help prevent it being overwhelmed by Swindon.

He said: "We think Wootton Bassett looks a bit tired and I know people want greater investment in the area.

"I want to build the best leisure complex in this part of England, including counties such as Oxfordshire and Hampshire.

"Nobody else has got what we will have here.

"I think that as a result of this investment other people will put money into Wootton Bassett rather than Swindon and I can see this helping to build the identity of the town."

As a newspaper proprietor, Mr Shah was a central figure in the changes that took place in the newspaper industry in the 1980s.

He was involved in a long struggle with trade unions in 1982 and he says his commitment to the area stems from a life-long desire to settle in the south west and the fact that his wife Jennifer's family are from Wiltshire.

He sees a close comparison between Wootton Bassett and Wilmslow, Cheshire, where he lived while he was building his chain of local newspapers.

He said: "Wilmslow is a superb community and it managed to keep its distance from Manchester and retain its identity.

"It has been through exactly the same challenge that Wootton Bassett faces now.

"Big Brother sitting on its doorstep and threatening to engulf it.

"But it fought back with investment from outside.

"By building on this side of the town we are dragging Wootton Bassett away from Swindon.

"It's good for our business if we maintain Wootton Bassett's identity."

He believes the prospects for the local economy of the market town remain good.

"The whole of the southern part of Wiltshire has to come through here to get to Swindon," he said.

"We have to give them a reason to stop here and spend their money, while retaining the identity of a small town.

"But I have to say that everyone here seems to have the same drive to improve the community."

Mr Shah is particularly proud of the green elements of the planned development.

Radiators and hot water in the holiday homes will be provided by geothermal energy and each home will have a grey water' tank.

This means that discarded water from showers and baths is used to flush toilets.

Mr Shah said: "I'm not a fanatic about the environment but we have to look after the planet earth."

He drew a comparison between the newspaper industry in which he was a key player and the search for renewable energy sources.

He said: "The way we used to produce newspapers until the 1980s was basically from the mid-19th century.

"The technology we used created more newspapers, more magazines and more jobs.

Suddenly everybody could be a publisher and the transfer of ideas became easier.

"In the same way we should be able to use new technology to make sure we save the planet but still get more out of it."

The club is holding an open evening on Wednesday February 22 to enable members of the public to see the plans.

For more information about the proposal for the new developments call 01793 849999.

Ground-breaking

GEOTHERMAL heating may seem like a modern breakthrough but it has been used for thousands of years for cooking and heating.

Geothermal energy is created by the fact that the earth absorbs energy from the sun in the form of heat.

Tubes are inserted into the ground, where there is a constant temperature of 12C.

Water is then pumped through the tubes and into radiators and hot water cylinders.

In summer the system can be reversed to cool the property.

The benefits of the system are financial and environmental.

It is claimed that the system uses only 25 per cent of the electric energy required in a conventional heating system.

The environmental benefit is that the energy source is sustainable and heating is more efficient.

Mr Shah said: "It's so simple and the saving is tremendous.

"For every one kilowatt in there are four kilowatts out."