Wind farm another blow to Borders

I was horrified to learn of a proposal to build yet another wind factory (farm) in the Borders.

As if there are not enough already of these largely-ineffective and unsightly wind turbines in this region, the latest proposal is to build 20 to 30 more between Fountainhall and Oxton.

The Borders is at risk of becoming the dumping ground for these monstrous eyesores and if people are concerned about preserving the natural beauty and landscape of the Borders, they have good cause to be worried by the threat of yet more turbines dominating the landscape. At up to 125 metres high, these machines will be highly visible from large areas of the region.

Scottish Borders Council has done its best to stem the tide of these turbines in high landscape value areas, but it has been up against a government which is hell-bent on littering the countryside with these objectionable machines, not to mention a dubious planning system which appears to favour the promoters.

Before the countryside is irrevocably changed by the onslaught of wind turbines, it is to be hoped that not only will members of the public make their feelings known, but organisations such as Scottish Natural Heritage will stand up and be counted as true custodians of the countryside and bring what influence they have to stop the Borders from becoming scarred for generations to come.

The proposers of this scheme claim in their literature that "the average number of homes supplied by this development will be 50,200". This sounds an ambitious figure knowing how notoriously-unreliable wind turbines are (less than 30 per cent efficient).

Even if the figures are realistic, the whole question of the economic (apart from to the developers) and environmental benefits have to be weighed against the economic, environmental and scenic harm which these turbines do. In many peoples' view the figures just do not add up, and in Europe, and particularly in Denmark, many wind turbines have already been decommissioned due to their poor output compared with the cost and damage to the environment.

One has to question also the damage inflicted on the countryside by the heavy lorries travelling to and from the construction site, not to mention the access roads being carved out of hillsides and the tons of concrete being poured into foundations.

I am not against renewable energy as such, but where the cost in environmental and landscape terms far outweighs the benefits of wind power, it is time to put them out of sight or concentrate on other forms of renewable energy such as hydro and tidal power.

For those who want to have their say on this proposed development, public exhibitions are being held by the promoters of the scheme at Stow Village Hall on September 3 (2-8pm), Fountainhall Village Hall on September 4 (2-8pm) and Oxton War Memorial Hall on September 5 (10am-4pm).