March 21, 2011
Scotland

Montrose urged to say RATTs to turbines

By Geraldine McKelvie, The Courier, www.thecourier.co.uk 21 March 2011

Montrose residents should take immediate action to prevent “extremely inefficient” wind turbines from becoming an “eyesore” on the landscape of their town, according to the man who led the opposition to a similar proposal in Dundee.

Bob Adam, of Residents Against Tay Turbines (RATTs), was speaking after The Courier revealed that Angus Council is in controversial negotiations with a renewables company for two turbines to be constructed at the town’s airfield.

The local authority has refused to confirm details of the discussions with Partnerships for Renewables as it claims it cannot disclose commercially sensitive information but we understand the plans were intimated to the corporate services committee in private last week.

Mr Adam – who formed the pressure group with fellow residents after Forth Energy announced its intention to build turbines at Dundee harbour – is now encouraging the people of Montrose to take a stand against plans which he feels are “misguided at best and criminal at worst.”

He claims that the only benefactors in such situations are the companies who build the turbines, which are substantially subsidised by the Scottish Government as a means of promoting renewable energy.

“The only time that these turbines produce lots of power is when the wind is blowing strongly and we can’t control that,” Mr Adam said.

“They are not viable and they are not green. Think of this winter, when temperatures dropped to as low as minus 15 and people really needed power – but the wind wasn’t blowing.

“The bottom line is we are spending so much taxpayers’ money on them in this economic climate, but we still need coal power stations.

“You just have to look at places like Holland and Denmark, where there are turbines everywhere.

“They still haven’t been able to shut down a single power station. That says a lot.

“I used to think turbines sounded like a great thing but it’s a different story when you properly look into them.

“But private companies would be mad not to build them because they are so heavily subsidised and they will produce hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of profit for the next 20 years.”

Mr Adam added that turbines would spoil the picturesque town for both locals and tourists.

“Montrose is a really bonny place, especially the basin, and there is so much wildlife there,” he said.

“But you can see these turbines for miles around – some of them are bigger than the Law Hill in Dundee.

“They will do Montrose no good whatsoever. Nobody wants an eyesore like that on their doorstep.

“I just really hope the people in the town will oppose this.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/03/21/montrose-urged-to-say-ratts-to-turbines/