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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 A sixth application had already been withdrawn.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."
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