WITH APPLICATIONS for seven windfarms either submitted or anticipated, it could well be an ill wind that blows over the Ochil hills as far as the scenery and communities are concerned. The exceptions would be landowners on whose land windfarms might be constructed, and the developers benefiting from government incentives - paid for, of course, by the taxpayer or consumer.
Articles regarding the merits or otherwise of windfarms have been many since the coverage in FotO's two previous newsletters this year. There seems to be an increasing awareness that windfarms are not going to be the answer to future energy supply problems. At best they will be an arguably expensive way of slowing down the consumption of fossil fuels, and with the world's major polluter (the USA) showing no sign of mending its ways, and with developing nations increasing the world's pollution, a few windfarms will not make one iota of difference to the greenhouse effect.
In its 31 July edition, The Economist published an article headed "Windfarms disfigure the countryside and threaten to cost £1 billion - apart from that they're great". A further article, written by an independent consultant, stated that Germany subsidises its windfarms to the tune of 1.4 billion euros per annum and reckons wind energy costs twice the price of coal, three times the price of hydro and gas, four times the cost of nuclear.
If windfarms do go ahead, they will cause a major impact on our landscape - and, with all the construction traffic, on local communities. Some impacts may not be all that apparent, for if developments go ahead in the northern Ochils it could well be Yetts o' Muckhart which bears the brunt of the construction traffic.
In the spring of this year, Perth and Kinross issued its Draft Wind Energy Guidelines (see www.pkc. gov.uk/livinglearn/planning), and all was not doom and gloom. The guidelines argued that Perth and Kinross's fair contribution to the 1000 megawatt (MW) additional renewable energy needed by the year 2010 to meet government targets was 100MW. To put that in context, the applications from developers at that stage were for 600MW in the Ochils alone (since increased).
FotO submitted a response to the guidelines. Some of the key points were:
There are seven applications targeted at the Ochils. The Lochelbank application is most advanced, being considered under Section 36 of the Electricity Act. Planning applications have been submitted for Knowehead, Green Knowe, Little Law and Snowgoat Glen. Applications are anticipated for Mellock Hill and Tillyrie, a small farmer-submitted development. (Also, to the north of Ben Cleuch, there is a wind-measuring mast on the 583m hill - unnamed on the map - at NN904024. The mast, around 12m high, carries a "Nomad wind energy data logger" which doesn't appear to be working. Council-wise, this is in Clackmannanshire. If there is to be an application here, it will be easily the closest to the central high Ochils - Ed.)
The current policy position is that we (along with everyone else) are awaiting the somewhat delayed final version of the Wind Energy Policy. In conversations with the Perth and Kinross Council planning department, it is apparent that the target of no more than 100MW of generating capacity for Perth and Kinross has been ditched as a result of pressure from the Scottish Executive.
A landscape consultant (David Tyldesley) has been employed by the council to assess which areas of Perth and Kinross might be suitable for wind development. In the Ochils, it appears that one area stretching from Mellock Hill to Lochelbank has been identified. This represents a large part of the eastern Ochils, an area I have run and walked over many times, with the land around the Water of May, Pathstruie, the high ground south of Culteuchar Hill and the Wallace Road area all potentially endangered. It is fine country with many little-known visual gems.
No single proposal has been deemed acceptable. It could be that an amalgam of more than one proposal will be suggested by the planning department. The department wishes to restrict the height of turbines to 60m instead of the 100m-plus monsters favoured by developers, and to ensure that intrusion on the skyline is minimised. One further crumb of comfort is that the intention of Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Clackmannan appears to be for just one development in the Ochils.
But it still threatens to be a pretty ill wind, at least for the eastern Ochils.
The following websites might be of interest for general information:
http://www.countryguardian.net/
If you would like to receive selected articles or references to submitted applications (by email), contact me at dave_prentice@btinternet.com