I T IS FASCINATING how some things all come together at one time. National newspapers have just published a report that local authorities will be allowed to start generating renewable electricity and selling it back to the national grid.

This is already possible for personal producers but by extending the scheme to councils clearly it could have a far greater impact on the looming problem of energy shortages. This announcement came just days after Cllr Sam Robinson tabled a motion to Torridge to assess the viability of producing hydroelectric power in the district, while Cllr Emma Farrington has got town council support to request the district council to install photovoltaic electricity panels on buildings owned by that body.

Some years ago I was involved in some plans for developing Brunswick Wharf which even then included a mini hydroelectric scheme. The quicker the council comes up with a plan to harness the area's plentiful sources of renewable energy the better.

I have previously suggested wind turbines be erected around the edges of our industrial estates and it would be nice to revisit the ideas about tidal energy in the estuary — the last time this was brought before Torridge, about 15 years ago, only one councillor voted in favour of a feasibility study, but I suspect many more would vote with me today. Given the development of the Atlantic Array nearby perhaps we should be drawing on the expertise in renewable energy that will be developed by the contractors whilst they are in this area?

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I'VE WRITTEN some 14 books and booklets on local history yet certain questions still stump me — and one was recently posed by Roger Tanton of Bideford who wondered when the old gasometers at East-the-Water finally disappeared.

He thinks it was between 1985 and 1990 yet no-one he has talked to knows for certain. He has a photograph of the last one but can anyone tell us when it was dismantled?

Oddly I know more about the setting-up of the gasworks than I do of its disappearance. Back around the middle of 1834 a meeting was held in the town to establish a Gas Company. In April, 1835, the Company applied to the Bridge Trust to lease part of a field at Nuttaberry "on the Beach in Front" for "a Site for Gas Works". The trustees reckoned that gas lighting would be "a great advantage to the Town and the Erection of Gas Works on the Field or Beach an Improvement of the Trust Property" and thus agreed a 99-year lease.

Eight months later they allowed gas pipes to be laid across the Bridge and themselves bought 10 gas lamps for the structure. It wasn't until February 1836 that the town was first lit by gas — apparently under the auspices of the town council rather than a company, but that is a story for another time.

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BIDEFORD is currently awash with rumours over what is to happen to the old Grenville College site at Belvoir Hill. Four of the large old houses owned by the school are now up for sale at prices ranging from £300,000 to £500,000 with an overall price tag of £1.55 million.

A few months ago it was reported that the Woodard Board, owners of the site, were looking at a possible development on the rest of the area which would include 47 houses and 24 flats. It seems pretty clear that any cash raised by the sale of the houses and land would not be re-invested in Bideford as in the 2009 "Grenville Association Newsletter" it was noted that the Woodard Board "feel under no obligation to donate or otherwise transfer to Kingsley School any of the capital that might eventually be realised by the sale of those assets".

I am aware that various alternative schemes are being talked about but until a planning application comes forward no one will know for certain what is being proposed. I would add that the building site behind 99 Lime Grove which forms the eastern end of the Belvoir land and where the planning application for 12 houses was so very contentious is up for sale at £600,000.

The major problem any would-be developer faces on this whole area of land is tackling the surface and underground water flows which during even moderate rain can be fairly severe. Concreting over the land will only exacerbate this. It will be interesting to see what mitigation is envisioned for the future.

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I HAVE mentioned before the scheme whereby Torridge councillors get £2,000 to allocate to deserving groups or ideas within their own ward. This year I have given half of mine to the local Scouts and the other half to the group "Young Devon" to develop a legal graffiti wall — an area where aspiring graffiti artists can demonstrate their skills legally.

This came about when local young people met with the manager of Victoria Park to discuss where such a wall might be positioned. They ended up choosing a two-wall option to be sited near the existing Skate Park. They will be two metres high with six "portholes" in "to give a slightly nautical flavour" reflecting its riverside setting.

The young people themselves want to be involved in construction work and the local Jewsons have kindly provided a building plan, costed the materials and agreed to dig the foundation whilst a local builder has agreed to help in actual construction.

Once erected the facility will be monitored by the Parks Department and they, apparently, will have paint available "to delete any unacceptable statements made on the wall". The total cost is £3,700 and councillors Hugo Barton and David Fulford have also promised £1,000 each from their allocation so hopefully the wall will go ahead soon — and there will be less illegal graffiti appearing around Bideford.