Stop these giant turbines
Surely something must be done urgently to stop the mad dash to construct massive wind power stations on hills and high ground all over Scotland?
These structures are now routinely proposed to be 200m (656ft) high, and unlike previous industrial structures such as coal mines, where the pithead was often just 25m high and in a town in a valley, the new epidemic of wind turbines is already ruining, or threatening to ruin, vast tracts of Scotland’s internationally renowned landscapes, from Lewis to East Sutherland, from Caithness to the Borders, from Moray to Ayrshire, from Perthshire to Argyll, and beyond.
Until recently wind turbines 200m high were only considered for offshore developments, since they are about twice the size of wind turbines we already see near Stirling, Greenock or Ardrossan. Building such new gigantic structures represents a momentous industrialisation of our landscapes. Even peat uplands are being considered as possible construction sites, despite the inevitable CO2 thereby released, and applications for sites where permission had previously been refused are frequently being reconsidered. In practice the new planning policy NPF4 appears to be out of control.
Other options, such as hydro, micro-hydro, tidal and solar are available in the “basket of renewables”. Although sometimes more expensive to build, these in the medium and long term would surely make more sense. Avoiding onshore wind industrialisation should be a Scottish Government priority.
I wonder how many of your readers know about plans to build giant turbines above Balloch (at Auchenreoch Moor), and above Dunoon, on the Bishop’s Seat hilltops? The latter would affect Dunoon’s status as the “Gateway to the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park”. And at present, the danger is very real that, once one scheme is approved for wind industrialisation on a specific site, others will follow, changing the whole essence of the Scotland we know – and cherish.
Judging by the recent letter sent to the First Minister by no fewer than 42 community campaign groups across Scotland calling for a moratorium on Scottish wind farms, and the recent unprecedented meeting of over 30 community councils in Beauly to discuss the issue, serious concern is widespread.
It is surely high time the Scottish Government took note and urgently amended its renewables policies accordingly.
Philip Norris, for Save Cowal’s Hills, Dunoon.
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