This wonderful, wild seascape in
Wigtown Bay has been under threat of industrialisation by the installation of 90 giant windmills. All would be situated within the confines of the bay, with the nearest being only 4.5km from the shore. Fortunately, for those that do not put natural beauty above greed for energy, the B
BC Scottish News today announced that the
Scottish Government turned down the application to develop this sensitive site. I am not a NIMBY, as I live just 5km from the largest onshore wind farm in Europe. I quite like it, though its rotors hardly turned during the last two record, cold winters.
Rather more surprisingly, they have also turned down the application to extend the
Robin Rigg wind farm, further up the Solway, from its current 60 turbines to 160. This farm is further offshore, at 9km, but apparently its power output is much less than predicted and it would not survive economically without a massive subsidy paid for by UK electricity consumers.
I am glad that these particular proposals have not gone ahead. I particularly like Wigtown Bay and I would have hated to see it spoiled, just so I could leave my computers at home and at work running overnight. Thank goodness the Scottish Parliament has made a common sense decision. Of course the forthcoming election, on the 5th of May, has no doubt helped them come to their decision!
I am not against windfarms as such,given the current situation in Japan. The only concern I have is they are now running out of bleak empty landscapes to site them and are recently placing them in more scenic areas.Ie.Right above the descent into Largs.Its now hard to travel 20 miles without sighting several and I wonder what tourists think as they come over for the wild dramatic landscapes they enjoy only to see endless turbines that do not seem to spin as much as one would hope most days.Also I,d like to see a study done on the impact of bird strikes(Swans, Geese etc.) during poor visability and night time as I,m sure there must be collisions.I,ve found several large dead birds around windfarms after strong winds or misty weather.
ReplyDeleteI suppose its our future though with the cost of fossil fuels rising year on year.
Bob.
PS Happy paddling
Thanks Bob. Interestingly, we went out to Ailsa Craig on Sunday. It was a clear day and it was very surprising how many windfarms had sprung up on the Ayrshire and Galloway coast and hills since my last visit.
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