June 15, 2012
Scotland

Trump and Mackie tell National Trust for Scotland their view on turbines

BBC News, www.bbc.co.uk 15 June 2012

US tycoon Donald Trump and Scots farmer Maitland Mackie have set out opposing views on wind turbines in the National Trust for Scotland’s magazine.

Mr Trump is strongly against plans for an offshore development near his £1bn golf resort in Aberdeenshire.

Writing in Scotland in Trust, he said wind farms threatened tourism.

Dr Mackie has written in support of the renewable energy and said people will become as used to them as they were to electricity towers and telephone poles.

He also said it was wrong to suggest that turbines killed wildlife, adding that traffic and cats were a greater risk and caused the deaths of “hundreds of thousands” of birds.

The businessmen have set out their views on wind turbines as part of a wider piece on Scotland’s landscape in the new edition of the trust’s magazine.

Its publication comes just days after the Scottish government rejected plans for an onshore wind farm for the first time in four years.

Spittal Hill Wind Farm Ltd’s proposal to construct up to 30 turbines in Caithness received 1,546 letters of objection and 1,268 letters of support.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said if it had gone ahead it would have had a negative impact on nearby properties and views of the landscape.

In the NTS magazine article, entitled The land we love, Aberdeenshire dairy farmer Dr Mackie said his family business had five years of experience in harnessing wind power.

He said his parents complained about increasing numbers of electricity pylons, but later got them into perspective and people would do the same with turbines.

Dr Mackie wrote: “We are at the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.

“Dramatically rising energy costs will only stabilise when there is enough renewable energy coming on stream.”

Giving views against turbines, Mr Trump said Scottish tourism relied heavily on the landscape.

He said: “Does anyone honestly believe that a wind farm landscape will stimulate tourism? It will completely end tourism in Scotland.”

Mr Trump said Scotland was “committing financial suicide”.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/06/15/trump-and-mackie-tell-national-trust-for-scotland-their-view-on-turbines/