Colin Donald
Business Editor, Sunday Herald
A Europe-WIDE body that campaigns against the wind farm industry has
accused the Scottish Countryside Alliance of “betrayal” for appearing to
side with big business and landowners in a pro-onshore wind “manifesto”.
Susan Crosthwaite, UK spokeswoman for the European Platform Against
Windfarms, said she was “very surprised” by the stance taken by the group,
which describes itself as “the voice of the countryside”, promoting the
interests of rural communities and businesses.
The publication of the Countryside Alliance document comes days after a
survey by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland which found that
two-thirds (67%) of respondents agreed that the proliferation of wind farms
was deterring visitors to Scotland’s rural areas, and damaging the economy.
The document, described as a “declaration of our views, motives and
intentions”, lays out the group’s position on issues such as broadband
coverage, fuel prices, land management, food and farming, hunting, shooting
and fishing. It contains an endorsement of the Scottish Government’s 2020
Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland, which it said, “reflects the
challenge of the new target to meet an equivalent of 100% demand for
electricity from renewable energy by 2020, as well as a target of 11% for
renewable heat”.
The manifesto advocates monitoring and enforcing an assured support
mechanism for large-scale renewables so it will deliver the renewables
needed to achieve the targets.
It also “encourages” [landowner] take-up of the Feed In Tariffs introduced
to replace UK Government grants and suggests these are regularly reviewed
to ensure the rates are attractive enough “to support the take-up of
small-scale renewable power by households and community initiatives”.
The spokeswoman said: “This is a betrayal by the Countryside Alliance. This
new manifesto suggests they now have a lot of landowner and farmer members
who are interested in wind farm development for their own personal gain.
They are putting this consideration above their self-declared duty to
preserve the countryside for future generations. Wind farms are hugely
divisive for Scotland’s fragile rural communities, setting neighbour
against neighbour. It is very odd that a document like this does not
reflect that.”
She added: “The entire Forestry Commission estate of Scotland has been
divided up between developers and leased to the developers and instead of
protecting forests for themselves and as breeding ground for birds they are
being gradually destroyed, really, by the wind farm development.”
Crosthwaite also said the erection of turbines in forestry land and the
pouring of their concrete bases was damaging the natural “carbon sink”. She
also alleged the concrete contaminated watercourses, damaging fish stocks
in angling rivers, citing the River Nith in Dumfriesshire.
Jamie Coleman, Scottish spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, confirmed
that the body was taking a more supportive stance on wind energy than
previously, but denied it was offering blanket support to the industry.
“We’re not coming up with a wholesale campaign to promote wind farms,” he
said. “We are saying that renewable energy is the way forward and that by
supporting and working with rural communities to achieve that we are
helping support the rural economy.
“We do have caveats that they need to be the right wind farm in the right
area.”
Asked why the manifesto, which stressed the need for the Scottish planning
system to “be inclusive of local people’s views” did not otherwise qualify
support for wind development, he said it was because of the requirement of
the document to be concise.
In its “position summary” the Countryside Alliance said: “We support
Scotland’s landowners’ quest for an assured support mechanism for
large-scale renewables so they can deliver the level and variety needed on
time to achieve renewable energy target by 2020; and further seek to
reinforce this with additional policies, such as research, development and
demonstration funding to ensure new offshore wind, wave and tidal power
technologies are brought to market quicker.”
Founded in 2008, the European Platform Against Windfarms claims to include
666 organisations from 24 countries. Based in the Republic of Ireland, its
management board contains scientists, health professionals,
environmentalists and tourism specialists.
A spokeswoman for the group Scotland Against Spin said: “The Countryside
Alliance’s section on renewables makes for chilling reading, especially the
call for even more Government support.
“Some large landowners see wind farms as not just a get-rich-quick scheme
but a subsidy cow to beat all subsidy cows. This has nothing to do with
looking after our landscape, wildlife and environment, or ensuring the
future viability of rural communities.
“Instead, it means permanently degraded landscapes and ecologies, and
reduced amenity for local residents and visitors, with its knock-on effects
of loss in residential property value and tourist revenue, a general blight
on other development.”
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