Overblown plans
What a depressing Christmas message from the Scottish Government to rural communities everywhere regarding the massive proposed increase in onshore wind development.
Having for the last ten years been trodden on by ruthless multinational wind developers, aided and abetted by an administration that is supposed to protect its citizens, many hoped the withdrawal of the financial support from Westminster would be the death knell for further monster turbines in Scotland.
But no, thousands more are proposed and they will be even bigger than those we are already burdened with. More turbines on to a grid that cannot cope with what it has now and many more hundreds of millions of pounds to turn them off as constraints rocket out of control. More financial burden on the consumer and more fuel poverty will result.
Once wind proposals were put forward as lasting only 20 years and then turbines would be removed.
Then we had the term “repowering” sneaking in and we knew we had been lied to. These turbines won’t be removed. They will be replaced with larger, more dominating machines.
Not only does the Scottish Government refuse to give rural people the veto like their counterparts have in England, they smash local democracy and cost our councils tens of thousands of pounds as they defend wind farm refusals only to see the Scottish ministers wave proposals through without a care.
There is never a word or a thought for those who are forced to live within an industrial development. Plenty lament the loss of precious landscapes and wild land to concrete, metal and noise, but what about the people? When did Scotland’s leaders stop caring and become so arrogantly callous about the people who pay their wages? It is clear to those who fight to protect their environment with their own time and resources that their votes are too few for the SNP to bother about.
Nicola Sturgeon should be ashamed of pressing ahead with more onshore wind without giving rural people the final word. Where is this “community empowerment” she talks about? Ballot communities and if they say no, leave them in peace and stop treating them like second class citizens.
LYNDSEY WARD Darach Brae, Beauly
Inverness