| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Backlash grows over church’s wind farm role
Credit: The Southern Reporter | 26 January 2014 | www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Church of England commissioners are facing a growing backlash over their involvement in plans for a massive wind farm south of Hawick.
In an exclusive story last week, The Southern revealed proposals by energy firm, RES, to erect up to 37 turbines on a site at Highlee Hill, at Dykeraw, near Chesters.
The bulk of land involved, if the Scottish Government greenlights the scheme, belongs to the Church of England.
And if it does get the go-ahead from government ministers it would be the first wind farm in Scotland on Church of England land.
Last week, local campaigners from Chesters urged the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to block the church’s involvement in the scheme.
The site involved at Dykeraw Plantation is home to peregrines, kites, merlins and hen harriers.
At the weekend, Linda Holt, spokesperson for national anti-wind farm alliance Scotland Against Spin, waded into the row, accusing the church of picking on a Borders forest for the simple reason affected communities would not be Anglican parishes.
“The Archbishop should pull the plug forthwith,” she said.
Southdean Community Council vice-chairman, Philip Kerr, told The Southern this week: “What we’re all still waiting for is a direct response from the Church of England addressing local people’s concerns.
“Many people are very disappointed it has not seen fit to respond.”
For its part, RES said it values community involvement, as this plays an important part in shaping its projects.
“RES has started a consultation process for Highlee Hill Wind Farm and we look forward to starting to work with the local community and organisations at this early stage,” said a spokesperson.
“We will undertake full public consultations on our plans before any development application is submitted to the Scottish Government.
“We want to see local communities receive direct and tangible benefits from hosting our wind farms.”
And RES added that Highlee Hill Wind Farm could bring over £13.8million in community benefits.
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.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=60929 ]
