FAIRWIND NEWS, 12th February 2006

Wind Energy are back

Wind Energy, the same company which threatened us with 500 turbines a couple of years ago, have signed an agreement with the Ardtornish Estate to develop a wind factory. We understand that they have the sole option to develop a 60 MW wind farm in the White Glen behind Ullien, with twenty or more turbines. This is a separate project from the one proposed for Glensanda (the anemometer for which Wind Energy Ltd has temporary planning permission has not yet been erected).

A bird survey is being done now - the plan for a windfarm by Dervaig on Mull was halted because of the danger to birds.

A grid connection is still an unknown quantity and will decide the financial viability of the project. A wind farm of this size will mean an extensive grid upgrade because the present one is inadequate. The meeting heard that two options are being discussed: one across Loch Linnhe then south to the Cruachan Power Station, the other along the present line via Glensanda with an upgrade to Fort Augustus and then on to the Beauly -Denny line, which is currently being hard-fought. Everyone in the Peninsula should be aware that any upgrade of the grid into Morvern would open the floodgates for more wind farms.

Fairwind will monitor all planning applications that are lodged with the council and will publicise any applications that appear, including anemometers. If you do not want this windfarm development to happen, then when planning permission goes in for even one anemometer, you must object to the council. Nothing has changed in our view as far as large wind farms are concerned, and don't believe the propaganda, this will be a large one - on Morvern and Ardnamurchan such developments will devastate the ecology, environment and tourist-based economy of the area.

FAIRWIND NEWS, 17th August 2005

The Scottish Executive lowers production targets for renewable energy

An article on July 31st in Scotland on Sunday (click here) says that the Scottish Executive has lowered the production targets for renewable energy in Scotland. It also says that speculative development is now slowing since new rules for grid connection have been introduced (developers now have to pay up front for connection). More consideration is to be given to environmental impact, with new guidelines to avoid the 'cumulative impact' of wind factories. Even Brian Wilson, not knwon for his opposition to wind factories, says that the proposals are 'more realistic'. Worth a read - see it here ....

A report by the Forum for Renewable Energy in Scotland (FREDS), a Scottish Executive sub-group, which can be seen by clicking here , goes into technical detail on the target changes and also confirms that developers are pulling out of speculative ventures because of the revised rules for applying for grid capacity.

FAIRWIND NEWS, 14th April 2005

Fairwind presentation to the Highland Council Renewable Energy Strategy
The Scottish Executive have no policy whatsoever when it comes to the proliferation of wind factories. This is due to nonsensical targets for renewable energy being imposed by Westminster on an obedient Holyrood.

The Highland Council, overwhelmed by the rush for wind by greedy developers, has set up a Renewable Energy Strategy group which is aimed at producing a sensible policy for the Highlands, before all our countryside is destroyed.

A consultation exercise was carried out in Inverness on April 13th.

Fairwind made a ten-minute presentation with particular relevance to our remote area, the damage that would be caused to tourism and the upheaval and disturbance that would be caused by the building of a vast factory.

A total of sixteen presentations were made to the Group, only one of which was a developer (Falck, an Italian company pretending to be British), whose main point was that up to 150 or so jobs would be created if every application currently proposed was installed. He had no answer when it was pointed out that Visit Scotland's own survey said that 6,250 tourist-related jobs would be lost at the same time.

Of the rest, no-one supported the profliferation of vast wind factories as the sole way forward, and indeed Campbell Dunford of the Renewable Energy Foundation produced a devastating analysis of the whole fraudulent rush-for-wind before the Renewable Obligation Certificates are redesigned. Worth looking at their website and downloading the manifesto, which is a reasoned analysis of the whole renewables arena.

We really hope that at last some sense is dawning on the wind farm fiasco.

FAIRWIND NEWS, MARCH 2005

Wind Energy have not gone away
A public meeting of Fairwind was told recently, by an unimpeachable source, that we should expect to see people working on behalf of Wind Energy Limited on our hills this season. We can only deduce that Wind Energy have still not given up on their greedy quest to ruin our hills and we will be looking out for them.

The one anemometer, in Glen Sanda, that was allowed in June 2004 has not yet been installed, and Wind Energy have therefore lost nine months of wind readings.

To date (May25th) there have been no further planning applications in our area, but we monitor them closely.

FAIRWIND NEWS, June 21st 2004

PLANNING MEETING, ANEMOMETERS - the first battle is won, but the war isn't over yet.
There was a well-attended meeting of the Highland Council Planning Committee in Fort William on June 21st to consider the proposals for five anemometers to be installed in various locations in Ardnamurchan and Morvern. A sixth application had already been withdrawn. After a well-informed debate, the planning committee voted by five to two to reject four of the five applications.  Councillors said that to discuss an anemometer application without being allowed to consider the fact that a proposed wind farm was mentioned in the planning application was bizarre.

The application for an anemometer to be positioned in Glen Sanda, which is already despoiled by the biggest super-quarry in Europe and an ugly hydro-scheme, was passed with provisions as to its physical installation and the time it is permitted to be in place (two years only), as well as a condition that this permission was in no way to be construed as approval for any future windfarm applications.

The developers can appeal against this decision, so we may still have a fight on our hands, but this news is a victory for democracy and sound common sense.

REASONS FOR REFUSAL ... Drew Macfarlane Slack, the area planning committee chairman, was quoted in the Scotsman on June 2nd: "The discussion had to be about these masts as opposed to wind turbines, as we do not have any applications for wind turbines yet. While everyone reflected on the potential of windfarm applications coming in the future the refusal of the four masts was based on visual intrusion of the masts per se and the damage that access roads may cause to the environment."

WIND ENERGY LTD DENIED IN A NEWS REPORT that a 500-turbine development had ever been mentioned as a possibility, despite the fact that it was minuted at several local council meetings.

WIND ENERGY'S MARK SHORROCK is no longer Chief Executive but remains a director of the company, according to the Sunday Telegraph on June 20th 2004.

THE ANEMOMETERS ARE FOR A HYPOTHETICAL WINDFARM ... Wind Energy's new chief executive, Mike Davies, was quoted in the Scotsman on June 22nd as saying that "We are very disappointed that the councillors appeared to be swayed by arguments about a hypothetical wind farm for which no plans currently exist."

PETITIONS
Fairwind has now collected over 2000 signatures (April 2005) on our petition to the Scottish Parliament to keep our area free of large-scale commercial windfarms. Only 6% of people approached declined to sign. Signatures are still coming in from shops, B&Bs, hotels and pubs all over the peninsula.

If you can't sign a paper one, you can sign an online version by clicking here.