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Hello and welcome to my website.
SUMMER 2009 UPDATE.
As those who have followed my political career will know, I stood down as a Member of the European Parliament at the European Elections held in June of this year.</P>
It is my intention to keep this website live in its current format over the summer and then at some point in early September it will morph into a campaigning site reporting my activities as the Conservative Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Daventry constituency at the next General Election.
You will still be able to access the information of this site through one of the "tabs" on the new site's home-page.
I understand that many of the people who come to this site are really only interested in expenses and transparency. Before you hopefully get all the information you require by hitting the "transparency" button on the left, perhaps you might just like to look at this:
Yes, I know I didn't come top and I'm gutted I only came second. I had no idea that the Tax Payers Alliance were doing this research and so was pleased to be ranked in a reasonable position. Perhaps if they had known I left the second "voluntary" pension scheme five years ago....
I'm Chris Heaton-Harris, one of the six Members of the European Parliament (MEP), elected to represent the people of the East Midlands of England in the European Parliament.
I believe that my job as an MEP should involve you. I am here to represent the people of the East Midlands in the European Union (EU), not to represent the EU in the East Midlands.
Your views are important to me, so use the interactive features of this website to let me know what you think. You can also register to receive regular updates from me.
And, of course, you can explore this website at your leisure - feel free to send me any comments or suggestions that you may have.
Just in case you didn't know, I am standing down at the European Elections on 4th June, 2009.
I hope that a few people across the East Midlands feel that I have represented them to the best of my ability and done my best fighting for the interests of the East Midlands over the last ten years.
Thanks also to all the schools who have let me come and talk to their students (and give out some freebies - it is amazing how much interest you can grab with a simple pen!) I managed to visit over 200 hundreds schools and other educational establishments in my time as a MEP and met some amazingly capable teachers and students.
LAST UPDATE: MY WORK IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:
Speeches
My speeches in the European Parliament are now available online on my YouTube site (see below)
Budget 2009
Read my analysis of the EU's draft Budget for 2009 here
Protection of children on the internet
I recently authored a report in the Parliament on how to best protect our children from possible dangers on the internet, including child pornography and sexual abuse, the threat of grooming, and the growth in cyber-bullying. Read about the excellent work that is being done to combat this - and how I hope to build on that success - in the Policy section of the website.
Wind farms and the natural environment
I am currently working with a number of local groups around the East Midlands about proposed wind farms in their area. You can read about my general thoughts on wind energy here and one specific example, in Hanging Houghton, here.
Below is the objection I have placed with Daventry District Council planners to the Harrington Windfarm proposal. If you would like more information about this or would like me to help you object to a local on-shore windfarm proposal, please e-mail me at cheaton@europarl.eu.int
Application DA/2009/0168 for construction of 7 wind turbines known as the Harrington Wind Farm
I wish to object to the above planning application.
Over the last couple of years I have become increasingly concerned that planning authorities are under pressure to pass planning applications for renewable energy schemes. This, in itself, is sensible. However, some schemes currently being placed before planners could, as the academic paper I attach, actually do not good whatsoever for the environment in reducing our carbon emissions and actually do more harm than good if you take into account visual and audible environmental factors.
Indeed, as the attached paper highlights, the potential "mean capacity factor" is extremely low in this part of the Midlands and unless our weather patterns change dramatically, it seems that this figure will never reach the 30% aspirational figure set by British Wind Energy Association.
As Daventry planning authority looks set to have a large number of similar proposals to this one coming forward in the coming months, may I suggest it would be worthwhile ensuring that these proposals, before they are passed, do actually lessen the UK's carbon footprint and improve the overall environment, rather than the reverse.
In this particular case, I would be surprised if the cultural and historical nature of the site were not of interest to English Heritage. Part of this site was home to the Carpet Baggers and is still a place of pilgrimage for families of the American forces who flew from there. It was also a Thor Missile site during the Cold War and as such is considered of national importance,
I very much doubt that the noise impact assessment study given in this case would stand up to scientific scrutiny. In particular I doubt whether the baseline survey was properly carried out in terms of location(s) where the measurements were taken, the equipment used and its calibration and if any extraneous or distorting events (heavy rainfall for example) are included in the data given.
Thus I would like to make a Regulation 19 (of the Town and Country Planning Act) request in order for that the planning authority and objectors to this decision have access to the information on noise levels and wind-speeds, to allow independent verification of the information provided by the proposer of the scheme.
I also harbour concerns about the following matters:
Landscape & Visual Intrusion: These turbines will be up to 126.5 metres high - they will have a huge impact on the local landscape changing the character forever, and destroying the tranquility and rural nature of the area. There will be significant visual effects to around 6 - 8km from the site.
Loss of amenity: These turbines will be located within 120 metres of a bridleway, which will be significantly affected during construction. It is also used by horses and the British Horse Society recommends a minimum distance of 3 times the overall height to avoid startling a horse. 4 turbines are at a distance less than this, one of which is only 73 metres away.
Impact on wildlife: This area is well known for its local wildlife including a large population of bats, in particular the Noctule and Leisler bats which are considered nationally uncommon and scarce; the red kite and the golden plover.
Proximity to homes and businesses: The nearest turbine will be around 550 metres from the Museum, 710m from Foxhall Cottages, 830m from Draughton Heath, 600 m from Sunnyvale Farm, and less than 1 km from Draughton properties. whilst there is currently no guidance issued in England,Scottish planning policy guidance states that “development up to 2 km (away from dwellings) is likely to be a prominent feature in an open landscape. Scottish Ministers would support this as a separation distance between turbines and the edge of cities, towns and villages so long as policies recognise that this approach is being adopted solely as a mechanism for steering proposals to broad areas of search and, within this distance, proposals will continue to be judged on a case-by-case basis”.
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