Wind farm exhibition didn’t tell full story

Jul 3 2009 Dumfries Standard Friday

Sir – I attended one of the exhibitions with regards to the new Auchencairn windfarm and found the information misleading.

The photographic images did not portray the true images of turbines as we view them on a daily basis.

Nor did the futuristic views include the soon-to-be-built 71 turbine wind farm which will commence shortly in Ae forest.

Information sheets state that the electricity produced will “supply consumption of between 11,500-15,500 homes, equating to 17-23 per cent of the households in Dumfries and Galloway.”

Will Dumfries and Galloway receive any power from this site?

We know that any power from the Spanish company Airtricity's Dalswinton wind farm goes south. So will we benefit at all?

While the Spanish company Acciona were applying for an anemometry mast to test the quality of the wind (never erected and refused by D&G council) the developer claimed an ornithological assessment was made, but it came to light that the ornithological assessment took place in October, and thus drew the conclusion that no Goshawks nested in this area.

This has been proven to be incorrect (but when did you see a bird nesting in winter?)

Buzzards, a protected species, when referred to in the application they were “considered to be common and not a species of high value”.

In your newspaper you report a spokesperson from Acciona stating: “we are committed to consulting with the local communities that surround Auchencairn windfarm and this week have held public exhibitions in Closeburn and Thornhill.”

I was one of the last to leave the Closeburn exhibition and I made time to read the comments made by all who visited. I found only negative feedback.

The article goes on: “We are committed to developing projects sensitively and with consideration for local communities”.

Well consider this: we don’t want another wind farm!