Machars residents turn out in force to view controversial Galloway Hills windfarm proposal 

Machars people turned out in numbers to view controversial proposals for a windturbine development in the Galloway Hills.

The public engagement event in Wigtown County Buildings last Wednesday, staged by developers RES, followed a similar exercise at Newton Stewart the previous day.

The Hertfordshire-headquartered firm envisage constructing 22 turbines up to 800 feet high in Kirkcudbrightshire, east of the River Cree.

The Blair Hill Wind Farm scheme is in its early consultation stage and is proposed for moorland and woodland north of Old Minnigaff.

At Wigtown, around 20 Hands Off Our Hills activists holding placards staged a demo outside the premises as the event began.

Wigtown man Tony Riden said: “I have worked in nature conservation for 35 years and am a member of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Scottish Ornithology Club and the RSPB.

“The moor is precious habitat and home to species like golden eagle, curlew, marsh harrier, golden plover and redshank.

“There has also been black grouse recorded on Barclye Moor.”

In the hall, construction worker David Cannon, also from Wigtown, was undecided.

He said: “I’m on the fence about the whole thing. I see it from a construction point of view and the work it would bring to the firm I would work for and other firms round about.

“But I know the turbines are very much in your face and I can understand the arguments why they are unacceptable.”

Angela Aston and Sheron Hayes

Pam Hughes from Newton Stewart was firmly against.

She said: “I’m stone mad. What about all the peat beds getting dug out for the turbine foundations?

“The water that the peat would otherwise soak up running into the rivers?”

Arthur Scott, also from Wigtown, invited people to ask themselves a simple question.

“Who benefits from this?” he said.

Morag Donnan, from Sorbie, said: “I’m angry. They state there’s a nature crisis and trying to preserve all these rare species in their natural habitats.

“Yet these huge great machines are going to be brought in. All this concrete they are going to pour is going to affect all the water courses.”

Heather Bourne, from Polbae near the Knowe, lives close to Kilgallioch Wind Farm.

She said: “The turbines sound like a jet engine with a whoosh. I wake up suddenly at night and I don’t know why. I’m horrified at this.”

The News did find one person strongly in favour but she did not wish to be quoted.

An RES spokesperson said afterwards: “We’re still in the early stages of designing the proposed Blair Hill Wind Farm and the feedback received will be used to help refine the proposals.

“We would like to thank everyone for attending and for showing an interest in the project.

“RES has lots of experience of using the local supply chain in Dumfries and Galloway to construct wind farms and if consented, we expect the project would invest in excess of £6 million in the local economy.

“During the operational life of the windfarm it would also pay around £1.5 million in business rates, every year, supporting vital local services.”

He added: “We look forward to working with the community as we progress the proposals, to discuss the design as it evolves and to understand how the community would like to benefit from the proposed community benefits package, which could include our Local Electricity Discount Scheme (LEDS).”