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Lewis and Harris

Lewis wind farm

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tuesday wrote:
er, sorry to break ranks here but i think it's actually a very good thing. my girl is from the outerisles and i'm afraid to tell you that that is what the majority of people there think too..
Really? That is certainly not what I've heard when I've been up on Lewis over the last 12 months. There seems to be a fear that the size of the wind farm will mean mega-roads being built to support the increase in traffic (have you seen how big those turbines they already have up there are? To transport them will mean huge lorries trundling along the roads), destruction of a large area of the peatlands, no real increase in jobs and the fact that a large percentage of those who lives on Lewis will be able to see them from their house; not to mention the impact upon the local archaeology.

Now, I happen to think wind turbines are pretty amazing looking things and have no problems with the ones which are in the vicinity of where I live but I think the scale of this one is just too big and the impact on the island too dramatic. My friend who has just moved off the island after 4 years was employed to do a survey on the impact on the local wildlife and he certainly didn't think it was good idea, along with about 90% of every one else I've spoken to up there.

The only person we met who was in favour was a councillor and he was sporting a rather fetching black eye, courtesy of one of his electorate who also disagreed!!!!!

yes, really.in fact, the plans were approved by 18 councillors to 8. it's unlikely that they would ignore the views of '90%' of their electorate don't you think? and the black eye might seem less cute if we imagined an officer of an democratic body getting hit in the face by say a protestor from the BNP perhaps?

as in many beautiful or wild areas, those who were brought up there tend to be less sentimental about changes. incomers, tourists and occasional / temporary visitors are often the ones who want to object. (not that that is necessarily a bad thing in itself)