YESTERDAY’S warnings over harmful smog in the Hampshire region brought home the stark reality of an unseen menace for all of us.

That Hampshire, hugging the coast and with its fair share of non-urbanised land should face such a threat might be surprising. Yet the dangers are real enough.

Today this paper highlights a campaign by activists in Southampton to urge the younger generation to take up the fight for better air quality.

The group, The Western Docks Consultation Forum (WDCF) is campaigning to restrict the development of industrial zoned areas in Freemantle and Millbrook.

Their group was formed in opposition to the now collapsed proposals to build a biomass plant on a nearby site.

Although the plant is now not likely to go ahead, this change results from the financial woes of the company proposing the project.

Yet the WDCF can claim correctly to have created a buzz in the city over air quality, a buzz they wish to capitalise on.

Elsewhere in the county, plans for a 40,000 sq ft power plant near Warsash have been turned down, this time by Hampshire County Council on grounds the area is of special beauty and should be protected.

In recent months we have also seen the rejection of large solar energy ‘farms’ for the area. Battles to create sites for giant wind turbines have created headlines for years.

The message is clear, the creation of energy is not something that local people wish to have in their own backyards for a variety of reasons.

The question is, however, where do we get our energy from if this continues?