Isle of Lewis is an area of outstanding beauty Conservation campaigners have welcomed a Scottish Parliament report that has slated plans for Lewis wind farm because it would destroy the scenic view. ...The Report - commissioned by Scottish Ministers - concluded: "Support for renewable energy development and the need to protect and enhance Scotland's natural and historic environment must be regarded as compatible goals.

Isle of Lewis is an area of outstanding beauty Conservation campaigners have welcomed a Scottish Parliament report that has slated plans for Lewis wind farm because it would destroy the scenic view.

The public inquiry into the giant Eisgein windfarm on the Hebrides found the huge turbines would have a "significant adverse" impact and called for new plans by the Developer Beinn Mhor Power to now be put to a similar rigorous public scrutiny.

"This Report is a vindication for the 3,000 objectors to the scheme," commented Helen McDade, Head of Policy for nature campaigners John Muir Trust. "It showed that the claims of economic benefits could not justify destroying one of our most precious, wild places."

The inquiry head Janet McNair, backed the Trust's arguments at the Inquiry last year that the development would have a significant, damaging impact on the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area (NSA).

The report found that that the wind farm would "seriously reduce the sense of grandeur, wild quality and remoteness in this area" and added: "The wind farm would have significant adverse effects on the qualities for which the NSA has been designated and that these effects are not clearly outweighed by social or economic benefits of national importance."

The report was published after the developer submitted an addendum to the development that pulls the scheme out of the National Scenic Area. The Trust is concerned that this may be an attempt to circumvent the full democratic planning process and today called for a new application to be formally lodged.

"Whilst we are delighted that the National Scenic Area has been saved, this does not mean that this development should now be rubber stamped by the Scottish Government," warned Helen McDade.

"Many of the concerns we raised at the Public Inquiry still stand for this new development and it must now be treated as a new application."

The John Muir Trust believes that the Reporter's findings set a landmark precedent for similarly scaled on-shore wind farms in sensitive environments. "This Report supports our conviction that we can tackle climate change without disfiguring the landscapes that define Scotland and its people," concluded McDade.

The Report - commissioned by Scottish Ministers - concluded: "Support for renewable energy development and the need to protect and enhance Scotland's natural and historic environment must be regarded as compatible goals if an effective response is to be made to the challenges of sustainable development and climate change. Achieving this objective requires a balance to be struck."

Web link: http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/12...