Statement to Stirling Council Planning Panel
From your reading of the Planning Services Report, letters of objection and the Endrick Valley Action Group’s own substantive report, you will know the main grounds for objection, therefore in this short statement we will highlight 3 significant areas of concern.
Visibility
This very public development will be highly visible through a 360 o radius and have much greater impact than existing wind farms. It will interrupt the intervisibility of the landscape. Significant view points such as Meikle Bin, Earl’s Seat, Kippen View and from the Trossachs and Loch Lomond National Scenic Areas would be overwhelmed by these 410 feet high turbines that through sheer scale and movement will become the dominant focus.
They would be constantly in sight for many of the villages, houses and farms in the surrounding area as well as the ridge of the Campsies and the Highland Fault boundary. In addition, the visual amenity of people travelling on the major tourist route along the Carse would be affected. Not only would the integrity of the Endrick valley and National Park be compromised, but the development would also impinge on a future Regional Park incorporating the Campsies.
Make no mistake, these turbines are enormous, taller than those at Braes of Doune , they will be twice the height of the Wallace Monument with a span equivalent to the length of a jumbo jet. For the residents of Balfron, Fintry and Buchlyvie they would dominate our lives day and night, year in, year out for decades. They would damage our quality of life. In addition, by their negative impact on our outstanding landscape which is after all the foundation of the increasingly important tourist trade, they could seriously damage local businesses dependent on that trade.
Natural Heritage
There is no question that West Stirlingshire is an area of outstanding natural beauty and diversity of wildlife. The international significance of the Endrick Water is recognised in both EU and British law and Loch Lomond is top in fish conservation terms in the number, variety and rarity of supported species out of 235 National Nature Reserves in Britain. Endrick Water is the main tributary of the Loch and the main spawning ground for migratory fish in the Loch Lomond National Park.
The proposed site on Ballindalloch Muir is blanket bog and a watershed with most of the drainage to the Endrick Water. The nearest turbine would be less than 1.5 km from the river. But before access roads are developed, quarries and turbine foundations can be excavated and concrete bases poured, the peat must be drained. Yet despite the close proximity to this sensitive, protected river and Balgair Meadow SSSI the applicant has not carried out a hydrological analysis. Why not?
We believe that the proposed development on this site carries unacceptable risk that will endanger and compromise the integrity of the Endrick Water with potential ecological consequences for Loch Lomond itself.
Similarly Ballindalloch Muir and its fringes are daily frequented by many protected species of bird - hen harriers, peregrines, black grouse and curlew. Goshawks breed locally and Red Kite are seen increasingly along the Endrick Valley. A scientific study published in September funded by RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Government, SNH & Scottish Mountaineering Trust found that bird species were displaced by turbines and breeding densities reduced by up to 53%. Their findings emphasised the importance of ensuring that wind farms are properly planned and sited.
We appreciate that we are privileged to live in this area of remarkable landscape with its diverse wildlife; we owe it to our children to protect their natural heritage which we believe will be put at risk by this development.
Noise
We can understand why the applicant would choose to ignore many other sites remote from habitation in favour of Ballindalloch Muir which is cheaper to develop. But to us it is absolute madness to site a wind farm less than 2 km from Balfron, a large, growing village designated for housing development. Indeed the Scottish Government itself confirmed in January 2009 “ that, in all instances, proposals should not be permitted if they would have a significant long term detrimental impact on the amenity of people living nearby. This principle applies to houses within and outwith 2 km of the proposed development...”
In particular we are concerned about the issue of noise and do not believe that this risk has been properly taken into account in pursuing the development on Ballindalloch Muir. The applicant’s noise prediction model is inadequate and too simplistic to satisfy long term risk. As some people become sensitised to the noise and vibrations, health risks become a real issue. Accounts of these instances both in the UK and abroad are increasing and a High Court case against developers, landowners and operators of a wind farm in England is pending.
Recent international studies have shown that it is impossible to block the noise or vibration from turbines even within people’s homes and the only coping strategy is to leave the area. But what about those people who cannot leave and more especially what about the 1,200 vulnerable children aged between 3 and 18 years in Balfron’s schools which are within 2 km of the proposed development.
It is vital to appreciate that children’s hearing is far more acute than adults and that they could be sensitised at relatively low levels of noise. Quite frankly it is iniquitous to even consider taking this risk when there are alternative sites away from populated areas.
We cannot emphasise strongly enough our concern that there are unacceptable risks associated with the proposed wind farm development on this site that will result in long term damage to health, our natural environment and our quality of life. We urge you to condemn this proposal as wholly inappropriate and to refuse planning permission.
