What a depressing Christmas message from the Scottish Government to rural
communities everywhere regarding the massive pro-posed increase in onshore
wind development.
Having for the last ten years been trodden on by ruthless multi-national
wind developers, aided and abetted by an administration that is supposed to
protect its citizens, many hoped the withdrawal of the financial support
from Westminster would be the death knell for further monster turbines in
Scotland.
But no, thousands more are proposed and they will be even bigger than those
we are already burdened with. More turbines on to a grid that cannot cope
with what it has
now and many more hundreds of millions of pounds to turn them off as
constraints rocket out of control. More financial burden on the con-sumer
and more fuel poverty will result.
Once wind proposals were put forward as lasting only 20 years and then
turbines would be removed.
Then we had the term “repower-ing” sneaking in and we knew we had been lied
to. These turbines won’t be removed. They will be re-placed with larger,
more dominating machines.
Not only does the Scottish Government refuse to give rural people the veto
like their counter-parts have in England, they smash local democracy and
cost our councils tens of thousands of pounds as and if they say no, leave
them in they defend wind farm refusals only peace and stop treating them
like to see the Scottish ministers wave second class citizens. proposals
through without a care.
There is never a word or a Beauly thought for those who are forced to
Inverness live within an industrial development. Plenty lament the loss of
precious landscapes and wild land to concrete, metal and noise, but what
about the people? When did Scotland’s leaders stop caring and become so
arrogantly callous about the people who pay their wages? It is clear to
those who fight to protect their environment with their own time and
resources that their votes are too few for the SNP to bother about.
Nicola Sturgeon should be ashamed of pressing ahead with more onshore wind
without giving rural people the final word. Where is this “community
empowerment” she talks about? Ballot communities and if they say no, leave
them in peace and stop treating them like second class citizens.
Lyndsey Ward
Beauly
Inverness
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