IN MY VIEW We need to value our country’s natural landscapes

SCOTS are becoming quite canny at spotting the difference between well-planned, sensitively-sited developments and those designed merely to put money into the pockets of shareholders.

For example, while most people probably think the Dundee Michelin factory’s turbines are interesting landmarks, many campaigners are genuinely concerned about the encircling effect of large wind developments around the Cairngorms National Park.

The John Muir Trust found that 800 industrial-height turbines were either built, consented to or going through the planning process in the National Park area.

If approved, there would potentially be three million tonnes of reinforced concrete buried in the bases – and that is expected to be left in the ground.

Sadly, planning authorities do not always properly consider the environmental evidence or recognise the genuine concerns of rural communities.

Surveys show the visual impact from pylon lines and hill tracks is particularly disliked. We need to make sure each development is justified and sensitively constructed.

TheJohnMuirTrust,asawildland conservation body, is particularly concerned about industrial wind developments which impact on wild landscapes – one of Scotland’s most loved features.

Although the Scottish Government brought in a welcome measure of protection with mapping and planning policy for wild land areas, there are still a number of major applications coming forward.

Residents and businesses in these communities are very dependent on tourism and share our concerns about the impact of poorly-planned industrial developments.

Their fears are about the degradation of our natural landscapes.

In a recent Mountaineering Scotland survey of members, 67% stated they preferred not to see wind farms when in the mountains.

Also, 22% said they avoided areas with windfarmswhenplanningtheir activities.

Public money should be directed away from industrial developments towards genuinely community-scale projects.

More support should be given to research and development into more advanced renewable technologies, such as tidal energy.

Scots are very proud of our natural landscapes – let’s value them.