CONCERNS

The fundamental concern of Save Our Hills is that Scotland, and in particular Dumfries and Galloway, is being overwhelmed by wind farms without sufficient account being taken of their downsides.  Once built, neither the landscape nor the environment will ever be restored, especially when account is taken of the concrete foundations of the turbines and all the associated infrastructure for roads and connection to the grid. Although the planning permission may last for a limited period of, say, 30 or 40 years, complete restoration will never be economically viable and it has never been required as a condition of planning permission.

This problem is compounded by the lack of resources in Dumfries & Galloway Council to deal with the number and complexity of wind farm planning applications with the not uncommon result that the Council fail to make a decision (or, in the case of applications direct to the Scottish government or appeals to the Scottish government, to express an opinion) within the time limited for that purpose. The problem is made worse by the Council charging only £1,312.50 per planning application when they are entitled to charge up to £5,760 per hectare up to £172,856 for planning applications for more than 3 turbines.

The policy of the Scottish government needs to be changed to manage development as a whole, including connection to the grid, rather than piecemeal as at present, so that sufficient account is taken of the cumulative effect of development.

The rules applicable to wind farm developments need to be updated to take account of advances in technology which have resulted in a new generation of giant turbines, particularly the visual impact, lighting and noise. Much of Dumfries and Galloway enjoys fabulously dark skies (not just in the Dark Sky Park) which will be wrecked by the lighting of turbines over 150 m. As to the noise criteria, they were formulated in 1997 and are hopelessly outdated. Moreover, they take no account of the physical impact and related health concerns of infrasound (i.e. sound below the audible range). For a comprehensive explanation of the adverse effect of infrasound, see the talk by Dr Alves-Pereira at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q7rgDH8M8s&list=LL&index=37&t=11s

Although the rules require local communities to be consulted about proposed developments, objections not strictly tied to planning criteria are treated as irrelevant and disregarded.  The rules need to be changed so that the views of local communities, however general, are given some weight, ideally decisive weight as was the case until recently in England.

This is particularly important where, as is often the case, the developers are foreign-owned with the result that the profits end up abroad and the landowners concerned are absentees who care little, if at all, for the local community.

The economy of large parts of Scotland is dependent on tourism.  Although a few tourists out of curiosity may visit a wind farm, generally wind farms kill tourism and with it kill the prospects for jobs, including those for young people.  This is particularly true of Dumfries & Galloway.

Finally, there is no scheme for compensating those whose homes are blighted by developments.  There needs to be one. Payments for community purposes, commonly far in excess of any conceivable community need, might well as a start be redirected to compensating individuals.