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It's understood that agreement might finally have been reached to install solar panels between the pitches and on any spare land on the Northwood park site in return for off meter electricity during the day and as much solar energy that can be generated at night to power the car park, training and main pitch floodlights. This brilliant news has been announced by a spokesperson known to Club Chairman Peter Phelps who wrote;
“This will make up for the disappointment of missing out on cash for nowt several years ago when some parents from the mini & junior sections conducted a mobile phone campaign to stop Vodaphone erecting a mobile phone mast in the far corner of our grounds. The annual rental for this would've paid for the beer & BBQ's for parents and coaches on future mini & junior tours so their kids wouldn't have to beg for cash bag packing at Tescos. There might even have been some left over for maybe pitch drainage or heating oil. Instead, due to the phone campaign, Vodaphone erected the mast just behind our fence, much nearer the pitches than it would have been on our land. Now, instead of the club, some poor farmer is benefitting from the cash!”
When asked of any potential draw backs to the solar scheme he replied that the benefits outweighed any minor difficulties the club might experience;
“There may be some loss of training space, especially in the top corner, but the supports of the panels and their pre-stressed concrete bases near the edge of the pitches would be protected by foam rubber in case players collide with them. There would also be advantages because the long cable runs underground to the sub-stations on the site next door will warm the land up, drying it quicker in the winter and also peventing frost. The only slight draw back would be that the very tallest players might be dazzled by the reflected light from the extremely shiny panels. In recognition of this potential problem we have an agreement that the electricity suppliers will fund quality sunglasses for any lineout jumpers who ask for them."
This project is superior to an idea put forward some years ago by a senior member, to generate power for the club by erecting a succession of windmills on the grounds. This plan very speedily discarded though when it was rapidly realised that, although Northwood Park was full of wind, the club would still have been paying for their construction and erection many years after the end of their projected useful life.