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Proposals for more wind turbines surrounding Strathearn 

Credit:  by Lynn Duke, Strathearn Herald, www.strathearnherald.co.u 15 June 2012 ~~

Residents are preparing to put up a fight following proposals for a windfarm to the east of Strathearn.

Gloucestershire-based wind developer Ecotricity has insisted that an open day it held last week to reveal details of a planned four-turbine development at Tibbermore was a success.

But locals have blasted that claim, saying the proposal to erect four 120m turbines has been greeted with “shock and alarm”.

A circular announcing the proposal for the 9.2 MW windfarm prompted worried residents to contact Communities Against Turbines Scotland (CATS), an umbrella organisation providing support and advice to community groups fighting turbine proposals across Scotland.

CATS committee member Graham Lang described Ecotricity’s claims as “bare-faced propaganda”.

He said: “It’s not a wind park with wind mills but an industrial-scale power station with wind turbines almost 400 feet in height. It will blight properties and landscapes for miles around.

“Although the proposal has barely got off the ground, the anguish in what is a close-knit community of farmers is already self-evident.”

Mr Lang claimed that Ecotricity employees at the open day had few convincing answers to residents’ queries.

He added: “They seemed not to know about the recent editorial in the British Medical Journal, endorsing a minimum setback of two kilometres from homes to safeguard people from long-term health damage from shadow flicker and noise.

“Ecotricity peddles the standard wind industry myth that turbines don’t destroy property value but any estate agent will tell you that the closer your house is to a windfarm, the harder it is to sell and the greater the loss in value.”

Local employer James England claimed there was “incomprehension and anger” among those at the event.

He said: “How can anyone think that this – one of the most beautiful, unspoilt rolling valleys in lowland Perthshire – is the right place to site such a massive industrial installation?”

Residents also have concerns about the potential effect on the economy.

Tourism operator David Smythe, of Gloag Farm Cottages, said: “Our unique selling point is our rural, unspoilt landscape. Industrial turbines, visible for tens of miles, will put off significant numbers of tourists.

“I’m afraid it will cause a lot of grief as it goes through the planning process and will end up splitting the community.”

No application for an anemometer, scoping or screening application for the windfarm has been received by Perth and Kinross Council planners and Methven resident Alyson Joyce said some of the proposed windfarm’s closest neighbours had not been contacted by the developers.

“No one in the 50-house new estate at Balgowan, which is less than a kilometre from the turbines, had been notified,” she said.

Ecotricty blamed the Post Office for leaving them off the list of addresses it had sent and promised to send a written apology to every householder.

CATS recently saw off a controversial application for a wind farm at nearby Standingfauld near Muthill.

Susan Crosthwaite, its chairwoman, said: “Communities across Scotland are being targeted as soft touches by speculative wind developers and subsidy-farming landowners.

“As we can see at Newmiln, they rarely bother to do their homework.”

Ecotricity spokesperson Nick Osbourne said around 100 people attended the company’s Methven open day.

“The drop-in session was highly constructive and we will of course incorporate residents’ comments into our ongoing assessments into the site,” he said.

“Once we have completed those assessments, we will arrange further consultation with residents in order to keep them informed throughout the process.

“However, the analysis so far suggests that the Newmiln Farm site will be a highly successful place to harness the clean, natural power of the wind.”

If the plans are approved Ecotricity is pledging £9200 every year to local projects once the windfarm is operational – or £230,000 over its 25-year lifespan.

Mr Osbourne said: “Ecotricity will continue to work on the environmental impact assessment, which will identify and assess any impacts from the proposed development on elements such as hydrology, archaeology, wildlife and bird studies, cultural heritage, noise and transport access and landscape.”

Strathearn anti-windfarm campaigner Maureen Beaumont believes there are too many speculative applications in the pipeline in the Perthshire area.

She told the Herald: “I find it amusing that we have progressed from calling them windfarms to wind parks. Are we supposed to go and play there?

“To me this is a very open area and would stick out like a sore thumb. The turbines would be very visible and I would think that if the Mull Hill development in the Sma’ Glen were to get planning permission and these ones too then from the A85 you would be looking north to turbines as well as south and you can already see the ones in the Ochils. Plus the cemented ones, such as at Burn Foot, are looking for extensions. It just goes on and on.”

Source:  by Lynn Duke, Strathearn Herald, www.strathearnherald.co.u 15 June 2012

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

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