Cairngorms Planning Objection
9:06 pm on the 12th of June, 2005“The John Muir Trust takes the view that where major new pylon developments impinge on important and protected landscapes, they should always, without question, be contained underground.”
Nigel Hawkins, Director of the John Muir Trust
If you want to lodge your displeasure about the proposal to construct massive pylons through the Cairngorm National Park then go to the Cairngorms Revolt Against Pylons website.
June 12th, 2005 at 10:12 pm on the 12th of June, 2005
Quite a brief post about a big issue there.
My perspective is, yes, they should go underground. With or without public money. We don’t skimp on building parliaments, yet we seem to believe in skimping on spending in areas which will have a lasting impact.
These pylons are planned start on the coast line by the western isles, head west then south through some of the most beautiful places in Scotland, before diving into the national grid around Stirling. They are three or four times the size of existing pylons (where there are existing pylons, that is) and are needed to bring in wind farm power from the western isles. he phrase I’ve heard that is most evocative (I think from Cameron McNeish) is ‘akin to taking a stanley knife to a Rembrandt’.
Now first of all, wind farms in the western isles. Do a quick google on that. First up is a govt sponsored PR website. Next up is this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4149487.stm
which about sums it up. Large parts of the community are against giving up corfting in favour of farming the wind.
Then it heads through the highlands, where this is the protest website
http://www.hbp.org.uk/
I don’t undertstand why the enviromental lobby seem to forget so totally that the environment is about more than how we dispose of waste and make electricity. Its about the environment we see, the ecolgy of the land. And bloody great pylons are worth hiding. We seem to ba able to pay for anything in the cities - so why skimp outside the cities. Is it because the decision makers never go there?
(Stuart, feel free to put my urls your format above)
June 13th, 2005 at 9:19 pm on the 13th of June, 2005
Hmmm. I agree about the pylons going underground, but I’m afraid I don’t agree with the whole wind farm thing. I’m kind of tired about people complaining about how ugly clean energy is. Okay, so wind farms aren’t pretty, but you have to get energy from somewhere, and eventually we’ll run out of countries to invade for oil. So your choice is ugly, dangerous nuclear power, or ugly (though I think wind farms are spectacular), undangerous wind farms. There isn’t anything else to choose. The problem is everybody wants it like they get their meat - all the tastiness without having to chop up the bloody animal. It’s all these NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard), but unfortunately something like wind energy needs to be in EVERYONE’s back yard.
June 14th, 2005 at 9:24 am on the 14th of June, 2005
I kinda agree, Lordy. See, the problems are:
a) the powers that be only want to build wind farms where they can’t see them. And they have a habit of misleading communities in the process. (the Isle of Lewis presentation apparently included a photoshopped website of how it would look. But only included 30% of the windmills, none of the buildings required and none of the roads.) Why build a windfarm in Lewis, and ipgrade all the infrastructure, whne theres so much available land in the central belt, or on the coast of Ayrshire? Practicality or because of the level of public complaints?
b) The powers that be only want to build wind farms, period. There is choice. Wave farms, for example. Scandinavia are way ahead of us there. Why? Well all the major windmill manufacturers are Scandinavian. They’ve built wind mills all over, to the point that the public have said -enough’. BUt our govt are not interested in investing in the research required. So we buy wind mills abroad and wait for them to sell us wave energy as well. And on another tack, how much of a grant to the power companies get for building a wind farm. Compare the percentage cost to what you would get if you put a windmill or solar panels on your roof. The focus is all on windfarms - which will never be the full solution.
And the cables should go underground - which is a different argument. Kind of.
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