Date: 11 June 2009 BROCKLEBANK : IT’S NOW UP TO COUNCILLORS TO THROW OUT CERES WIND FARM PLANS Commenting on news that Fife Council planning officials have recommended that the Gathercauld wind farm development, near Ceres, be allowed to proceed, Ted Brocklebank, Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said;
“It is very disappointing that Council planning officials have recommended that EnergieKontor’s proposal to build a wind farm at Gathercauld should be allowed to proceed. For more than three years the local community has been vociferous in its objections to the proposal. The North East Fife Area Committee will decide whether the project is to proceed on Wednesday 17th June and I urge councillors to listen to the local community and reject the proposal.
“The general manager of EnergieKontor UK, Peter Harrison, has stated that the opposition of Ceres Community Council may not reflect the majority view in the local community. However, I can assure him that the vast majority of the local community is against the project, as I have discovered on the doorsteps. The objections of three other local community councils, as well as the National Trust for Scotland and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, highlights just how little goodwill there is for the project.
“The development would have a substantial impact on the character of the landscape and would undoubtedly become an overbearing and defining feature of the area. The site is part of an ‘Area of Great Landscape Value’, as designated by the finalised Fife Local Plan for St Andrews and North East Fife, and a wind farm development would surely be at odds with this designation.
“One of the principal justifications for wind farms is that they cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, in their own environmental statement, EnergieKontor has admitted that the success of wind turbines in reducing CO2 emissions is uncertain. It is estimated that the turbines will deliver only 26% of the installed capacity, creating a relatively insignificant amount of electricity. It is clear that any benefit gained from the wind farm will be minor and will in no way compensate for the scarring of the landscape. Scotland has many other far more suitable sites for wind farm development than the proposed site at Gathercauld.
“I congratulate the local communities in the area for continuing to fight against EnergieKontor’s development and I urge the North East Fife Area Committee to reject the plans for Gathercauld.”
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