February 6, 2008
Scotland
Scotland
Radical plans to build a windfarm in Clydebank have been temporarily shelved because of objections from Glasgow Airport.
The ambitious scheme involved having windmills on the hills above Faifley.
But airport chiefs expressed concerns that the turbines could interfere with the radar systems of aircraft on approach.
The idea for the eco-friendly energy source to “power faifley” have been in the pipeline for a number of years, and a company was recently brought in to find out more about its feasibility.
Knowes Housing Association (KHA) in Faifley told tenants about its idea recently and asked for their views.
Since then it has identified two possible sites – one near to Douglas Muir and the other a small farm – where the turbines could be housed.
However, ground work has shown that the plans cannot go ahead in the short term due to the radar issue.
Pierre De Fence, KHA chairman, told the Post: “We have recently received responses from Glasgow Airport and the National Radar Authority stating that they object to the proposal on the grounds of safety and interference with the airport radar systems.
“It is therefore unlikely that we will be able to proceed with a planning application at present.
“However, there is software being developed which may mean that the radar problem could be resolved at some time in the future, if so we will re-visit the proposal.
“If the scheme went ahead it would very much be a community project in that the money that would be raised would be used to set up a charity and then ploughed back into community projects.
“The scheme would certainly have increased the amount of renewable energy available for electricity.
“And if the plans were to go ahead the smaller proposal could have powered around 1,000 homes and the bigger proposal could probably almost have supported the whole of Faifley.”
The feasibility study looked at the sites and assessed the natural resources in the area.
If the project eventually got the go-ahead then it is proposed that the smaller site could have one turbine – standing at a massive 70 metres high – and three turbines could be built if the larger site was chosen.
Bids to create windfarms have been increasing in Scotland and just last week the country’s third largest windfarm was given the go ahead.
The 68-turbine development in Perthshire will be capable of providing electricity for 114,000 homes.
Perth and Kinross councillors had rejected the proposals, but the Scottish Government was allowed the final say.
Opponents had raised concerns about the impact on scenery and roads being clogged with construction traffic.
by Andrea Fraser
6 February 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/02/06/airport-chiefs-object-to-town-windfarm-bid/