I hear Chris Bunyan wants to “sit around the table” with Sustainable Shetland.
I don’t believe his dream will become reality. Sustainable Shetland is in
all likelihood the largest ever constituted community group in the history
of the Shetland Islands and represents over 800 individuals.
Bunyan and his little band of fellow wind fundamentalists have yet to state
who they represent, apart from Viking Energy.
Bunyan’s windfarm supporters group reminds me of those naïve individuals
used as mouth pieces by various industries in the past to whitewash and
lend credibility to controversial and environmentally damaging developments.
These individuals were paraded as “the voice of reason” and said to
represent the so-called “silent majority, too frightened to speak out” in
the face of justified and concerted opposition.
The Viking Energy windfarm has already done untold damage to Shetland. It
has ridden roughshod over local democracy and left countless members of
this community feeling disenfranchised and unheard.
That elusive pot of wind gold has led to years of blinkered decision-making
by the SIC and Shetland Charitable Trust, such as the pathetic deal struck
with Total and countless missed investment opportunities in the local economy.
It goes without saying that the £10 million spent on Viking Energy to date
has led to deeper spending cuts than would otherwise have been necessary.
Shetland is one of the richest places in the UK and voluntary organisations
such as Women of Worth and Shetland Bereavement Support Service had to
close their doors due to lack of funding. The damage still to come is
unimaginable.
We now have a court ruling that gives carte blanche to developers
regardless of environmental damage caused in general and to protected and
endangered species in particular.
This is a frightening prospect and there is little doubt that, if the 103
Viking Energy turbines are erected, they will be followed by many more (an
additional 50 are already planned for Yell and Unst).
This is not about saving the environment, as Viking Energy and the wind
fundamentalists would have us believe, but about greed and the prospect of
riches for the few. It is going to bring about the wholesale destruction of
Shetland’s environment and unique landscape.
An equally frightening prospect is that 70 of the 103 turbines are still
less than the recommended 2km from dwellings, leaving the individuals and
families occupying them highly vulnerable and in great uncertainty
regarding their future quality of life, health, amenity, and property values.
Their concerns have been dismissed by Viking Energy and its supporters
group. I can’t help wondering what this says to the world about us, the
Shetland community?
Ghandi’s immortal words spring to mind: “The true measure of any society
can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
Rosa Steppanova
Lea Gardens,
Tresta.
0 Comments