August 28, 2007
Scotland
Scotland
A large majority of people in Shetland have come out against a proposed wind farm in the isles, it was claimed last night (Monday).
Around 200 islanders voted in ‘Da Muckle Poll’ organised by the Shetland Independent Newsletter (SIN), a free monthly magazine delivered to every household.
The magazine hopes to influence local decision makers by conducting telephone votes on pressing issues.
This month islanders were invited to vote on whether they wanted to see a proposed 600 megawatt wind farm being built by community-owned Viking Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy in central Shetland.
SIN editor Stuart Hill said that 168 readers had voted against the proposal, with just 25 in favour.
Mr Hill said: “Almost 200 voters is a very significant number of responses, especially when you take into account that each voter felt strongly enough about this issue to pay for their vote.
“It seems that, in spite of all the money that has been spent on PR and consultation meetings,
Viking Energy have failed to convince 87 per cent of the Shetland public that this project is in Shetland’s interest. I will be contacting Viking Energy about the result.”
He added that Da Muckle Poll was a unique experiment, giving Shetlanders access to direct democracy by phone.
“As people realise that their vote means something and that action will be taken, I predict that support will grow,” he claimed.
28 August, 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/08/28/muckle-majority-oppose-wind-farm/