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Sustainable Shetland will "first and foremost" oppose the Viking Energy windfarm proposal, the group announced yesterday (Sunday).
They have also pledged to fight any subsequent large scale development involving an interconnector cable and the export of green energy from Shetland to the UK mainland.
The group say their concerns about such large scale developments are both environmental and financial.
A first public meeting is expected to take place later this month to gauge whether there is any support for the new group.
Viking Energy, owned by the Shetland Charitable Trust and Scottish and Southern Energy, plan to build a 600MW windfarm in the central mainland of Shetland. The developers said they expected to lodge a planning application for the £1 billion project later this summer.
In a press statement issued last night, a spokesman for Sustainable Shetland said those who had attended an inaugural meeting were keen
to emphasise that renewables must play a part in how we live in the future.
He continued: "However it is essential that these are fit for scale in the landscape and should be based on smaller community schemes, wind to heat etc, and a proactive energy conservation policy.
"With regard to industrial scale development we aim to provide a balanced information source, with a view to establishing exactly where public opinion in Shetland lies.
"An example of what we would be asking for is a scale model of the Viking Energy proposal for public display."
The spokesman added: "Similarly we would envisage information gathering and tapping into whatever expertise is available with regard to community-based fit for scale projects."
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