Mrs Weir, the widow of well loved and iconic author and TV presenter Tom Weir, who was at the forefront of bringing the iconic Scottish Landscape and rich heritage to the mainstream media, was present at Bute House today, to hand over a petition started by Wind Wise Radio in partnership with Stop Highland Windfarms Campaign. This was the second attempt by Mrs Weir to hand over the petition to Alex Salmond, who has now formally accepted the petition.

Mrs Weir also had a message to deliver to Alex Salmond and all the politicians at Hollyrood;

“We in Scotland have inherited an irreplaceable legacy – a unique, varied and very beautiful environment that is free for all to appreciate and enjoy. Any unnecessary development which will have a detrimental effect on this heritage should be considered an act of vandalism.

I know my late husband, Tom Weir would have been appalled at the present proliferation of wind turbines defacing the land he loved.

In a country now short of productive industry, the pecuniary importance of tourism should not be understated, especially as it is the mainstay of the economy in rural Scotland and the Islands.

Wind turbines however are already having an impact on tourism as indicated by the 40% of those questioned in a recent survey who said they would not return if the landscape continued to be industrialised by wind turbines.

This attitude is endorsed by many of the 4,500 strong potential visitors, many from overseas, who have signed the petition I am handing over to you today.

Also, not to be ignored is the recent call by Loch Lomond and Trossach National Park planners for research into the effect turbines are having on tourism.

We need electricity, but surely in a country renowned for its engineering skills, alternative means of production could be developed. We don’t lack water. Could we not harness river power and hydro schemes constructed in suitable locations?

As it is, we as citizens are footing unacceptable rises in our electricity bills for power emanating from a source that is intrusive, spasmodic (and therefore unreliable), inefficient and requiring back-up, damaging to the earth’s sub-structure, costly to construct and operate, noisy, with a limited life-span and without obvious means of eventual annihilation.

I rest my case but will never rest my efforts to save the country I love from this needless blight”

Rhona M Weir


1 Comment

Maria · April 16, 2013 at 5:48 pm

Well said Rhona Weir! I sit here today in fuel poverty whilst having giant turbines completely dominate the views from my window, being only 1.6km from my home. Such irony! The developers have ruined the countryside where I used to walk, and claimed they would produce enough electricity to fuel x-amount of homes, and yet here we sit unable to afford to heat our homes, whi;lst the developers laugh all the way to the banks. The so-called ‘community benefit’, (or bribe) has still to be seen, and even if it does eventually materialism, it only works out at a pittance of approx. £3 per person in my area. We pay so much more in subsidies to fund the damn turbines in the first place. So not only has my view been spoiled, my countryside ruined, my fuel bills increased to the point I can no longer afford to heat myself, I am then told that these wasteful industrial machines are beneficial for Scotland, but I ask, to whom? I can only hope that those who have pushed ahead to deatroy the Scottish land in this disgraceful way, will one day be held to account for their actions.

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