| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
More than 170 sign online petition to stop wind turbine at Dunfermline Public Park
Credit: Siew Peng Lee | Dunfermline Press | 19 Mar 2014 | www.dunfermlinepress.com ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
More than 170 people have already signed an online petition to stop a wind turbine being built at Dunfermline Public Park.
As the Press reported on our front page last week, the campaign was launched last Tuesday after a Fife Council meeting at Carnegie Hall to discuss the possibility of the popular green space as as a potential site for a turbine.
The council has already publicised £10.5million plans for 25 potential locations – or ‘primary sites’ – for turbines, but the park and Pittencrieff Park are among 28 additional proposed sites.
However, angry residents have slammed the plans, which could see a 45.5-metre (149ft) turbine put up between the children’s play area and the park’s Central Avenue.
To date, 172 have signed the petition asking for the council’s feasibility study to be stopped in its tracks.
They’re demanding that the park remains a greenspace, and “not to provide a power generation source”.
Central Dunfermline Community Council chair Jim Stewart told the Press, “The turbine suggested is half the size of the FMC turbine, and half as high again as the existing park treeline.
“The location is 40m from St Margaret’s Drive and planning states that turbines should be at least their height plus 50m from the nearest road – do the sums!
“There have been some recent examples relating to safety issues, so ‘above’ the kids’ play park is beyond my understanding.”
Mr Stewart said he supported all forms of wind, solar and wave power energy, but added, “I am at a loss where considerable time and effort has been expended in a public consultation scheduled for a time that few could attend.
“What logic and thinking process missed the fundamentals and local understanding of an urban greenspace in a historic conservation area with its own existing plans, and concluded that a wind turbine is ‘feasible’ – and make no mistake, that is exactly what the published report states.”
Additional sites confirmed by the council include Blairhall, Valleyfield Woods, Tulliallan Golf Course, Lillehill Farm in Townhill and Lochhead resource recovery near Wellwood.
Dunfermline MSP and councillor Cara Hilton has written to Fife Council but said she had been advised are no plans to place wind turbines in the park.
However, she added, “A building connected turbine adjacent to the park, at Commerical Primary School, was just one of a list of sites under investigation to be potentially be included in a future public consultation on the location of wind turbine sites.
“So this is very much a pre-consultation – I understand that the findings will be relayed to local councillors at the Dunfermline area committee meeting in either April or May, who will discuss possible sites, before being passed to the council executive for a decision on which sites to accept.
“It’s only after this that consultation will commence on any possible planning applications.”
The petition has been set up at www.change.org.
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=62412 ]
