New turbine numbers have objectors in a spin – Barrhead News

Campaigners say East Ren saturated with windfarms

By Sean Rooney

Campaigners claim East Renfrewshire is “saturated” with wind turbines as
statistics reveal there is one turbine for every square kilometre in the
Authority.

Figures revealed by Eneregised Environments show that there are also more
turbines per head of the population in East Renfrewshire than there are in
major windfarm areas, such as Aberdeenshire.

Anti-turbine proptestors say the stats show there is an over-development of
windfarms in the area and that council bosses must change their attitudes
to planning.

Avid campaigner Aileen Jackson from Uplawmoor, said “Per square kilometre,
East Renfrewshire has more than three times more turbines than any other
local authority in Scotland. This report does not take account of the
smaller turbines which are also abundant in East Renfrewshire, particularly
in the Uplawmoor, Neilston area. It will be interesting to see if this
data helps to argue that the East Renfrewshire landscape is now over
saturated with turbines and changes ERC’s priorities, which are currently
weighted more towards the development of the urban environment rather than
to sustain the rural environment.”

Turbines have divided opinion in the area in recent years as more
developments have sprung up across the authority.

Some Neilston residents and Uplawmoor residents objected to the building of
the Neilston Community Windfarm, while East Renfrewshire also plays host to
part of Europe’s biggest onshore insdarm, Whitelee, near Eaglesham.

However, the presence of Europe’s largest windfarm also means that the
figures may be misleading without context, as many of the turbines are
concentrated into a single area.

Aileen added: “I think it is about time that East Renfrewshire changed its
priorities when it comes to planning and applications for wind
turbines. The building of Neilston Windfarm has had a much larger effect
on the local area than developers said it would and it is villages like
Uplawmoor who are suffering.”

A spokesman from ERC said: “These figures will include Whitelee Wind Farm,
which is the largest onshore windfarm in Europe and will therefore reflect
heavily in the figures. In the assessment of wind turbine applications, we
operate within a national planning framework. We must also work within
previously approved Strategic and Local Deveopment Plans. Turbine
applications are consistently assessed against these.”