A planning application to build a new 50-MW wind farm near Moffat in the
Scottish Borders has been approved by the Scot-Govt – despite the
opposition of the local council.
But only after the Greenock-based developer of the Whitelaw Brae wind farm
agreed to cut the number of turbines by almost 50% – from the 27 it first
proposed in 2012 – to the 14 it submitted in an amended bid in 2015.
Mountaineering Scotland had also criticised the approval of 14 turbines –
each more than 400-ft high – near the Fruid Reservoir in the Tweedsmuir
hills claiming it ignores the impact on tourism in the area.
The application for the Whitelaw Brae wind farm was subject to a public
local inquiry which considered all potential impacts including tourism.
A Scot-Govt spokesman said that that as long as the conditions attached to
the development were observed there would be “no adverse impact” on the
River Tweed special conservation area.
David Gibson, chief executive of the not-for-profit charity, Mountaineering
Scotland, said: “We’re disappointed, but not surprised, that our own
research into tourism impacts has been ignored consistently by developers
and those who run the planning system in Scotland.
“But even the research promoted by the renewables industry itself now
demonstrates that wind farms negatively impact tourism employment in
mountain areas.”
He said there was “empirical evidence” that tourism-related employment
decreased in scenic areas after wind farms were built.
“Positive media coverage of a ‘thriving’ tourism sector, typically based on
statistically selective press releases, is seldom supported by the full
figures,” he said.
“In a competitive world, it is disingenuous to put at risk any segment of
Scotland’s tourism market such as that dependent upon wild and open landscapes.”
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