Re: Lewis wind farm | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

tuesday wrote:

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)

Hey Tuesday, I certainly wasn't suggesting that the black eye incident was "cute" just that it seemed to suggest that there was an alternative view to the one put forward by the council. As I said, I have spent quite a lot of time of Lewis and all of the conversations I was party to were less than enthusiastic about the size and impact of the proposed farm. That isn't to say everyone is/was anti-wind farm, just not this particular one.

This isn't about being less sentimental to change either - I honestly believe that if the proposed farm had guaranteed employment for islanders, then they would've been more in favour. I think it is that they really cannot see any local benefit or improvemnts in the infrastructure and economy of the island (other than the bloody great roads that will have to be built for the works traffic)and this is something the Western Isles are crying out for.

There are some interesting conversations on the visithebrides discussion board, which shows some of the more vocal/local opposition.