Centuries-old village fishing communities in Fife are under direct threat from the Scottish Government’s obsession with grandiose off-shore renewables developments. That is the warning that Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson will give to a town hall meeting in St Andrews this Thursday that is set to bring together opposition to wind farm developments from throughout Scotland.
Struan Stevenson, who is Vice-President of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, is the keynote speaker at the event organised by Cameron Community Council to raise awareness of the current flood of large wind energy developments currently facing Fife communities. He will explain that the destructive impact of off-shore turbine developments on marine habitats is huge and that affected species, and fishermen whose livelihoods depend on them, will become another forgotten element of the SNP's mad-dash for wind power.
He will highlight the plight of fishermen in Holderness in Yorkshire. Consent has recently been given to Danish company Dong Energy for the construction of a 35 square km wind farm at Westermost Rough, one of the most important parts of the Holderness Coast fishery. The rocky substrate, with plenty of small boulders and crevices provides a near-perfect, but highly sensitive habitat for lobsters. This habitat faces complete destruction, while Holderness fishermen will only be able to fish the area with permission from Danish company, Dong Energy.
Speaking ahead of the event, Struan Stevenson MEP commented:
“The Scottish Government’s current plan for the footprint of off-shore wind farms looks set to cover vast areas that are of huge significance to traditional inshore fishermen in fragile Fife. Fishermen in communities like Pittenweem will be taking anxious notice of the plight facing the industry in Holderness. To see the areas they and their ancestors have fished for centuries sold to foreign energy companies, and to have to ask permission from a Danish company to use the remnants, will be too much to bear for many.
“Scientific evidence suggests that the noise and vibration created by the installation and operation of off-shore turbines is devastating for marine life and seabed habitats. Driving the huge foundation piles deep into the seabed creates sound pressure levels that seriously damage the hearing systems of marine mammals and fish. Displaced sediment can also wreck vast areas of seabed for fishing.
“The SNP government simply haven't thought this through. Why are they going to ruin areas that have been fished for hundreds of years in order to build wind turbines that will last 20 at a push? Why are they going to ruin the fragile village fishing industries of the East Neuk, which add immeasurably to the local economies and cultural heritage of Fife? And all of this in pursuit of a technology that is unreliable and inefficient.”
Among other attendees at the St Andrews event are expected to be key representatives of Trump International Developments, protesting against plans for a huge off-shore array within sight of the proposed golf resort at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.
Commenting, Struan Stevenson said:
“Donald Trump’s representatives are right to come along to St Andrews to compare notes on how best to face down the wind farm developers and the Scottish Government. The meeting will welcome any expression of solidarity with the growing numbers in Scotland determined to face down the threat wind farms pose to our unique communities and scenery.”
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Matt Baker
We can all watch Countryfile again! Thank you so much, Matt Baker, for speaking out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9094406/Matt-Baker-questions-effectiveness-of-wind-farms.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/21/matt-baker-hits-out-at-wind-turbines_n_1290015.html
Perhaps next time - if ever - the producers decide to do a feature on wind farms, you can persuade them to actually visit some of the poor people in places like Cumbria, Lincolnshire, Wales, Cornwall, and now Devon as well, who are having their lives blighted by wind turbine noise.
And if they are really daring, they could do some real investigative journalism, and find some farmers too, who have regretted signing up on the dotted line, who may also be suffering from turbine noise, who may have seen their farms ruined, who may regret what they have done to their neighbours' lives, but are unable to speak out because of confidentiality clauses.
When it suits the agenda, the media are happy to interview people while hiding their identity with blurred images and altered voices. Perhaps it is time for the BBC to properly investigate the wind industry.
Here is a link to some poignant words from a farmer in the US.
This is an excerpt from his testimony - do read it in full if you can.
"I tried, as did some of the other farmers, to get out of our contracts, but we had signed a binding contract. If you are considering placing wind turbines on your property, I strongly recommend that you please reconsider. Study the issues. Think of all the harm to your land, and, in the future, to your children’s land, versus the benefits from allowing companies to lease your land for turbines."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9094406/Matt-Baker-questions-effectiveness-of-wind-farms.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/21/matt-baker-hits-out-at-wind-turbines_n_1290015.html
Perhaps next time - if ever - the producers decide to do a feature on wind farms, you can persuade them to actually visit some of the poor people in places like Cumbria, Lincolnshire, Wales, Cornwall, and now Devon as well, who are having their lives blighted by wind turbine noise.
And if they are really daring, they could do some real investigative journalism, and find some farmers too, who have regretted signing up on the dotted line, who may also be suffering from turbine noise, who may have seen their farms ruined, who may regret what they have done to their neighbours' lives, but are unable to speak out because of confidentiality clauses.
When it suits the agenda, the media are happy to interview people while hiding their identity with blurred images and altered voices. Perhaps it is time for the BBC to properly investigate the wind industry.
Here is a link to some poignant words from a farmer in the US.
This is an excerpt from his testimony - do read it in full if you can.
"I tried, as did some of the other farmers, to get out of our contracts, but we had signed a binding contract. If you are considering placing wind turbines on your property, I strongly recommend that you please reconsider. Study the issues. Think of all the harm to your land, and, in the future, to your children’s land, versus the benefits from allowing companies to lease your land for turbines."
Friday, February 24, 2012
Is Wind The Answer?
Experts to debate in St Andrews
Public information event organized by Cameron Community Council
St Andrews Town Hall, 7.15pm 1st March 2012
Love them or loathe them, wind turbines are coming to Fife. From industrial-scale wind farms to back-garden turbines, Fife is facing a torrent of applications.
Fife Council’s Planning Department is currently looking at hundreds of proposals (1). Storms over wind rage in the local press, and are splitting Community Councils.
Now Cameron Community Council has boldly invited leading experts to St Andrews to debate the pros and cons of wind energy.
“Wind power is a relatively new phenomenon in Fife and many local communities are struggling to understand what it means for them. People are frightened and concerned by the prospect of these turbines”, Cameron Community Council Chairman Gordon Ball said.
“As the wind applications have proliferated, so have our questions. As a Community Council, it’s part of our job to make sure our communities have accurate information about the wind farms and turbines we are being asked to live with.“
Mr Ball explained that the he had invited John Mayhew, the Director of the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, who addressed a packed audience at Cameron Community Council last summer. Mr Mayhew explained the background to the Government’s plan to make Scotland the “Saudi Arabia of wind’”
“His talk was impressively balanced and informative,” Mr Ball added. “There was no end to the questions from the audience and many people were disappointed to have missed him.”
Mr Ball has now invited experts to St Andrews with huge experience of the impact of wind development across Scotland. “We’re encouraging anyone curious about wind to come to the Town Hall,” said Mr Ball.
There will be a question and answer forum and the meeting is free and open to all.
Joining Mr Mayhew will be Derek Birkett, the former Grid Control Engineer of Northern Scotland and author of When will the lights go out; Scottish MEP Struan Stevenson, who chairs the European Parliament’s Climate Change, Biodiversity & Sustainable Development Intergroup; Dave Bruce, who has wide ranging knowledge on all aspects of wind farm development; and Graham Lang, a local expert on the planning process for wind turbines and co-founder of EFTAG, an internet site which maps all past and present turbine proposals in East Fife.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Two of the four people who run the Coalition have family links to the wind industry
Two of the four people who run the Coalition government have family members who have made money out of the wind industry.
Read this post below from ConservativeHome
(we all know the two are, of course, but we may not have known just how powerful they are)
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2012/02/ten-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-group-of-four-that-runs-the-coalition.html
Imagine if they had similar links to the coal or oil industries!
Read this post below from ConservativeHome
(we all know the two are, of course, but we may not have known just how powerful they are)
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2012/02/ten-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-group-of-four-that-runs-the-coalition.html
Imagine if they had similar links to the coal or oil industries!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Sammy Wilson DUP MP
Sammy Wilson is one of the MPs who signed the letter to David Cameron . He deserves special praise as he is the only MP from the beautiful country North Ireland to do so.
Here he is speaking on You Tube.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Who are the politicians?
According to an article by Robert Mendick and Edward Malnick in The Sunday Telegraph today,
"In October, a flagship Conservative policy, which would have required local referendums on large-scale projects such as wind farms and housing estates, was quietly abandoned after intense lobbying by RenewableUK. "
Who were the politicians who made the decision to give way to the lobbyists? And did they have any links (family or otherwise) to the wind industry?
We need to know.
The article also describes how the wind energy industry "drafted in eco-activists to drum up support for wind farm projects in the face of local opposition."
(The Windbyte website has some good examples of this kind of behaviour)
As we keep saying - how can anyone call such "eco-activists" Green?
Incidentally, we have a page on our website that lists more politicians who have spoken out against wind farms - in addition to the 106 who wrote to David Cameron. There are some surprising names included, and it is a work in progress, so if you know of any more please contact us.
"In October, a flagship Conservative policy, which would have required local referendums on large-scale projects such as wind farms and housing estates, was quietly abandoned after intense lobbying by RenewableUK. "
Who were the politicians who made the decision to give way to the lobbyists? And did they have any links (family or otherwise) to the wind industry?
We need to know.
The article also describes how the wind energy industry "drafted in eco-activists to drum up support for wind farm projects in the face of local opposition."
(The Windbyte website has some good examples of this kind of behaviour)
As we keep saying - how can anyone call such "eco-activists" Green?
Incidentally, we have a page on our website that lists more politicians who have spoken out against wind farms - in addition to the 106 who wrote to David Cameron. There are some surprising names included, and it is a work in progress, so if you know of any more please contact us.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Good for Donald Trump!
His mother was born in Scotland. My mother was born in England, but her parents came from Scotland, and if she and they were still alive, I know they would be horrified to see the destruction that is being wreaked on this most beautiful country.
Christine Lovelock
ITV last night
There was a programme last night on ITV called "The cost of going Green". It was good that they raised the subject but frustrating to watch, as they were not very critical of claims about wind power. For example, they went to the island of Eigg, and talked about the way the island is self-supporting in electricity, but failed to mention the fact that when there was a drought with little wind, the islanders had to go back to using generators (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/hydro_electricenergy/7858960/Power-rationed-on-green-island-Eigg-after-mild-weather-causes-drought.html)
It's now on iplayer:
http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=306357
It's now on iplayer:
http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=306357
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Hundreds attend protest in Anglesey
"HUNDREDS of wind turbine protesters rallied outside Anglesey council – as the local authority announced it would temporarily halt debating applications.
http://www.epaw.org/events.php?lang=en&article=uk5
and at the original Daily Post site:
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/multimedia/news/video/2012/02/02/wind-turbine-protest-on-anglesey-55578-30251751/
Campaigners marched on the council offices in Llangefni yesterday, reflecting the growing anger over the proliferation of “monster” turbines across the island countryside. Protesters also voiced concerns over biomass and bio gas proposals on the island."
Read more here:http://www.epaw.org/events.php?lang=en&article=uk5
and at the original Daily Post site:
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/multimedia/news/video/2012/02/02/wind-turbine-protest-on-anglesey-55578-30251751/
Friday, February 3, 2012
Windfarms and the Rape of Britain
Listen to Struan Stevenson MEP in this video.
"In his hard-hitting booklet, Struan Stevenson MEP demonstrates how Britain is being raped by the current mad race for renewable energy sources, and particularly by wind power. The manic scramble is responsible for the rape of Britain. "
Read more on the YouTube page.
Struan Stevenson is a Conservative Euro MP for Scotland. He is Chairman of the Climate Change, Biodiversity & Sustainable Development Intergroup in the European Parliament.
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