‘Wind farm windfall’ – triumph or tragedy?

I am not sure if the headline in the Lochaber Times last week (September 6 – Wind farm windfall) regarding community ‘benefit’ from Stronelairg wind farm reflects a triumph or tragedy.

The Stronelairg wind farm is one of the most controversial in Scotland’s history forcing two judicial planning reviews.

The area is wild land of outstanding natural beauty and part of a unique Highland ecosystem. The environmental damage caused by the wind farm will be enormous, with tracks built up the hillside and parts of the area bulldozed and filled with thousands of tonnes of concrete to replace the carbon sink peat.

The John Muir Trust and other outdoor groups fought a campaign on behalf of the public interest to save this unique landscape for the Scottish and world community.

Elected representatives in looking at benefit should consider and reflect on the destruction of a pristine wilderness of unimaginable beauty.

The commercial developer will make hundreds of millions of pounds in the next 30 years from the scheme, so the amount of so-called ‘community benefit’ is a token effort. Jim Treasurer Friends of the Great Glen Environmental Group