By Douglas Dickie
Halfway Community Council will formally oppose a planned wind turbine at
Flemington.
Members of the group voted unanimously to object when the proposal is put
to South Lanarkshire Council’s planning committee.
They will also write directly to Healthy ‘n’ Happy, who are behind the
plans, urging them to reconsider.
Liisa Hepworth, who lives in the Loanend Cottages near the site, spoke at a
packed meeting, in Park View Primary last Wednesday.
She urged the community council to back the residents, saying: “We are
really concerned about the proposal.”
She told the meeting the turbine would be 76 metres high, and would sit 550
metres from her house, adding: “We were told it was going to be unobtrusive
and not visible, but clearly it is going to be visible, not just to people
in Flemington and Halfway but also Uddingston and Blantyre.
“This is not going to be hidden from view. This is going to be a big
turbine, very visible and overbearing to locals.”
Ms Hepworth said she thought the work Health ‘n’ Happy do was “fantastic,”
but questioned whether the wind turbine matched their own vision.
She also said the consultation was just “lip-service,” and that there are a
“number of significant historical interest,” near the site, including the
cottages themselves, which are a conservation area.
Financially, she said the turbine would impact on the value of their homes
and claimed Healthy ‘n’ Happy had offered financial compensation, adding
she felt “uncomfortable,” for a charity to offer cash in that way.
John Edgar, who sits on the community council, questioned where the money
from the wind turbine would go, saying he had met with Jane Churchill, who
is in charge of the plan.
He said “This community will not get money. It will go to Health ‘n’ Happy
for Burnhill, Whitlawburn, the bike track and Camglen Radio. “I am sick of
money being taken out of this area. The community council needs to stand
up. I’m fed up. Jane Churchill could not tell us how much money was coming
to this community.”
Liisa Hepworth said she was worried Flemington Farm was a “prime site to
become a (wind) farm”.
Mr Edgar responded, saying: “We have worked with Health ‘n’ Happy, I have
worked with them for a long time.”But it’s supposed to be for the community
to be healthy, not stick big wind turbines up.”
Mr Edgar, community council secretary Jim Walker and member Sandy Paterson
questioned the attitude of Healthy ‘n’ Happy towards the community council
for raising their concerns.
Mr Paterson said he had been accused of being “negative” when questioning
if a public exhibition constituted a consultation while Jim Walker said:
“They are a major player within the community, they get a lot of money and
they should work with the community.”
It is believed an application for the turbine could be submitted to the
council in the next four to six weeks.
Healthy ‘n’ Happy were not formally invited to last week’s meeting.
But Executive Director, Brendan Rooney, told the Reformer: “Thankfully
everyone agrees that we do very good work and that local people and local
communities benefit. Everyone knows that funding is reducing year on year
and we need to find alternative ways to continue our work with local people
and communities throughout Cambuslang and Rutherglen and there is a real
threat to our continuing existence in the current economic climate.
“We understand that wind turbines can be an emotive subject and that some
residents will have reservations about them and we are trying our best to
reduce any impact and to minimise disruption to the landscape as well as
respond to other concerns.
“It has also become clear that some residents are very supportive of the
benefits and despite the critical comments we genuinely welcome the debate.
“This single turbine proposal is purely for community benefit and not for
some unknown large overseas commercial company, only interested in profit.
We are planning to use any income from the turbine to support the
charitable work of Healthy ‘n’ Happy and to create direct community benefit
funds for the communities of Cambuslang and Rutherglen, including Halfway.
“Local communities will directly benefit as a result and we can continue to
provide vital services, employment and opportunities to individuals from
all over Cambuslang and Rutherglen.
“Our plan is for a single wind turbine only on this site and it is still
very early in the process. We shared our plans early in the process to be
as open as we could be.
“The planning application submitted recently to South Lanarkshire Council
was not for the actual turbine but for a wind mast to test the wind over
the course of a year and to determine how good the site is, or not.
“We have a really good relationship with Halfway Community Council and we
want this to continue. We have offered to meet with them to discuss our
proposals in detail and we await their response.”
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