Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorich

Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorich

Thursday 16 June 2011

Loch Lomond wind power station proposed - Ard Ghaoth

Banks Renewables hopes to build a wind power station with 20 turbines near loch Lomond, a few miles east of Conic Hill, with each turbine being about 100m high. The usual bribery package will be offered to local communities if the application is approved.

The company is about to submit an application for a wind monitoring mast which will establish whether the site is viable, and ecological and ornithological surveys will also be carried out. Given that Stirling Council has identified the area as potentially suitable for wind power station development, it is hardly likely to reject the application - which is what it should do.

Source: BBC Scotland News


Note the line of the WHW near Conic Hill. Click to enlarge.



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Protecting the environment by ruining the landscape.

Genius; absolute genius.

Andrew W said...

I'm considering not walking in Scotland. They don't care about their wonderful wild landscape. Why should I spend my time and money there.
Their legacy will return to haunt them, but by then it will be too late.
They are a bunch of Wa?kers.
I don't think they are walkers!

afootinthehills said...

Byeways - these are crazy people who care nothing for the landscape and as we all know this obsession with wind energy has nothing to do with protecting the environment.

Andrew - can't say I blame you but you need to write to the Scottish Government to say so, although I can understand why you might reply "why should I bother"? Living in Scotland means I'll still walk and climb here but if I know that the community welcomed the turbines (or, more likely, the bribes that go with them) I'll do everything I can to avoid spending in their area.

Unfortunately, the World Mountain Bike Championships won't stop coming to Fort William when the Druim Fada wind power station is built; the skiers won't stop skiing at Aonach Mor; they won't stop skiing at Cairn Gorm because they can see turbines in the Monadhliath and, dare I say it, the TGO Challenge won't stop either. I'm not sure what would have to happen to stop Salmond and his crew.

Anyway, I don't usually go the Lake District in summer, but when I get back from my next trip to the Highlands, that's where I'm going.

Andrew W said...

' can't say I blame you but you need to write to the Scottish Government to say so'

I have already, but I fear it will make no difference to the ongoing devastation.

I will keep on doing the Challenge as well, but route finding without turbines is going to become increasingly difficult. As much as I love the Monadhliath my next route will not be going that way. The rest of my walking will have to be elsewhere. I used to love walking in the wilder parts of Wales, but they have gone/are still going down the same Windfarm madness route.
We've even got one about to be built near us down in the Fens. And when you travel up past Ely, they are all over the place.
History will tell, but they will still deny it was their fault.
It will be weapons of mass destruction all over again.

CF Rich said...

More bloody turbines! Grrrrrrrr! I give up!

Alan Sloman said...

Thanks for posting this - I have been out of the loop for a while and am just back catching up. It is depressing but you have to fight each case.

There has been an excellent debate in the House of Lords recently about the noise generated by wind turbines - at last the politicians are getting the fact that the electorate are deeply unhappy about wind turbines. In the debate Lord Reay told the Upper House how destructive wind farms are to the environment, the damage they do to tourism and ho incredibly uneconomic wind energy is too.

The more we get politicians to listen the better the chances we have of stopping the increasing industrialisation of the wild land..

So, Weekend Dude - Don't Give Up! (The capitals are important here..)

Chris Grogan said...

Banks are trying to put turbines on moorland near us in West Yorkshire. It's not got the great beauty of Scotland but it's wild and it's bleak and it's accessible from the cities. Local people are campaigning against them.

afootinthehills said...

Chris - "Wild and it's bleak". It sounds wonderful to me. Good luck with the campaign.