August 9, 2012
Scotland

Victory is tweet: Wind farm scrapped over fears golden eagles could be killed by turbines

Daily Record | www.dailyrecord.co.uk 9 August 2012

Plans to build a wind farm on Lewis have been scrapped over fears golden eagles could be could be killed by turbine blades.

The decision by Scottish Southern Energy to drop plans for the 26 turbine wind farm, at Pairc was welcomed by RSPB Scotland yesterday.

The charity had warned of the potential to harm sensitive bird species including golden eagles white-tailed eagles, merlins, the black-throated diver, golden plover and dunlin.

And, after studying the issue, the developer determined the project was no longer feasible due to the likelihood of birds striking the turbine blades.

Aedan Smith, RSPB Scotland’s head of development, said: “This is very welcome news from SSE. We have been concerned about this proposal for a number of years.

“SSE should be commended on this responsible decision which recognises the importance of this site for sensitive species.

“Although much of Lewis is important for wildlife, there is still scope to develop windfarms as long as they are well sited and designed.”

RSPB say they support the development of renewable energy including wind farms to help tackle climate change.

But they insist they must be located in the right place avoiding our most important places for wildlife.

SSE Renewables still believes that there is the potential to develop a wind farm with fewer turbines on the Pairc Estate, but they have no plans to progress with a smaller development

Golden eagles are on the amber list of birds of conservation concern and are afforded the highest level of protection under UK law.

There are around 60 pairs in total on Lewis.

?A wind farm that could power more than 30,000 homes has been given the go-ahead. The Galawhistle site, between Muirkirk in East Ayrshire and Douglas in South Lanarkshire, will have 22 turbines.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/09/victory-is-tweet-wind-farm-scrapped-over-fears-golden-eagles-could-be-killed-by-turbines/