Prospective parliamentary candidates in the south of Scotland have been
asked for their view on energy and wind turbines in particular, by the
Borders Network of Conservation Groups (BNCG).
All candidates in the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat and the
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency were sent a
questionnaire on energy policy and BNCG have published the responses.
Three of the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk candidates did not respond
– Michael Moore, Jesse Rae and Peter Neilsen – while the other four came up
with a cross section of answers.
When asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement ‘The UK
government should recognise that wind energy is not as efficient, cheap,
reliable or green as was previously thought and divert subsidies to
cleaner, more cost effective and reliable sources of energy’ responses were
mixed.
John Lamont (Cons) “strongly agree”, Kenryck Lloyd Jones (SLab) “agree”,
Pauline Stewart (Green) “partially agree but not nuclear energy, and Calum
Kerr (SNP) “Disagree. Wind should be part of energy mix, preferably offshore.”
The statement that the UK government should designate the Scottish side of
the Cheviot Hills and their foothills as a national park had some
interesting replies: Lamont, Stewart and Jone were all in favour of a
national park in the Borders but Stewat and Jones said that it should come
from the Scottish Government. SNP candidate Kerr went further and described
the ideas as “disrespectful to the Scottish Parliament”.
An automatic compensation scheme for house-owners in the UK whose property
values have been affected by wind farms was supported by Lamont and Jones
but Stewart disagreed saying “taxpayers should not fund. Like to see more
information about effect of wind farms on property prices, and Kerr was
unsure, adding that the “Scottish Government is researching impact of wind
farms on property prices.
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