A lot of hot air – Scotsman letters

It is undoubtedly no coincidence that Renewables UK chose this week to release the result of their survey showing support for onshore wind farms.

They obviously got “wind” (pardon the pun), of Scotland Against Spin’s current petition to the Scottish Parliament seeking to “increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore wind farms” and they are running scared. After all, Scotland has more turbines operational and in the planning system than the other three countries in the UK put together.

It’s a shame they have chosen to muddy the waters somewhat through a combination of the terms “renewable energy” and “onshore wind farm”. Did anyone who was surveyed understand the questions? And was there a reason they chose the seemingly random distance of (within) 8km from a wind farm on which to base their result?

Perhaps it was due to the fact that at that distance most communities would not be greatly affected by one wind farm and would welcome any associated community benefit on offer. If the thousands of residents who live much closer to multiple wind farms had been surveyed, then the results would have been entirely different, particularly if those with a financial interest in a wind farm were excluded from the result.

I doubt anyone will be taken in by this self-serving survey.

Graham Lang

Scotland Against Spin, Ceres, Fife