Copyright 2003 Aberdeen Press and Journal
Aberdeen Press and Journal

December 5, 2003

SECTION: News; Environment; Energy; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 682 words

HEADLINE: Argyll Wind Farm Protesters Appeal To Blair

BYLINE: Moira Kerr

BODY:
Wind Farm protesters in Argyll are to ask Prime Minister Tony Blair to
intervene in a heated dispute they are having with the Forestry Commission.
Objectors have accused the commission of breaking its own mission statements
and neglecting its public responsibility to conserve and manage the nation's
forestry stock, by encouraging wind farms on its land.

Residents who live near the forestry land site for a proposed 22-turbine
wind farm at Inverliever, 20 miles south of Oban, are also accusing the
commission of putting its short-term economic interests before its duty to
look after public land.

The commission has clashed head-on with Avich and Kilchrenan Community
Council and local residents in Glen Doin by refusing to allow work on a
public walkway through beautiful Inverliever Forest, until a decision has
been taken on the wind farm planning application.

The site for the proposed Scottish Power wind farm is on commission-owned
high ridge land in Inverliever Forest, which enjoys stunning views over Loch
Awe.

As well as its impact on the scenery, objectors are concerned about the wind
farm's potential to harm golden eagles and other raptors which breed in the
area.

Protestor Christine Metcalfe, who lives near the proposed site, claimed she
had failed to get satisfactory answers about her concerns from the Forestry
Commission, so she now intended to take the matter straight to Downing
Street.

She said: "Since June this year, an increasingly serious dialogue has been
conducted with the Forestry Commission in Scotland about its role in the
current explosion of wind farm applications throughout the Scottish
landscape. It does not have the right to do what it is doing with public
land." She added: "By its apparently unquestioning adoption of wind power,
the Forestry Commission is claiming that it has the legislative powers to
inflict an increasingly worrying level of damage to landscape, environment,
and the lives of their near neighbours, in what may be seen as a direct
contravention of many of its own stated aims and obligations and its
supposed roles as steward of land belonging to the people of this nation."
Three wind farms have already been built on Forestry Commission land in the
UK, with one currently being constructed and more than 20 more under
consideration. Most of the sites in question are in Scotland.

Repeated correspondence with forestry chiefs has failed to win an acceptance
of what Mrs Metcalfe and other residents are saying.

Bob McIntosh, Director Scotland for the Forestry Commission, in a letter to
Mrs Metcalfe, said: "Given the potential public benefits flowing from
allowing wind farm developments, we do not feel it is appropriate to take an
'in principle' stance against them.

"There is a well established democratic process for determining the
appropriateness of such developments - the planning system - and, while we
do try to discourage wind farm developers from exploiting high profile
sites, with the potential for obvious controversy, we feel it is appropriate
to allow the planning system to determine whether the right balance is being
struck between the potential pluses and minuses of wind farm developments."
But Marilyn Henderson, secretary of Avich and Kilchrenan Community Council,
claimed the commission had responsibility for forestry land development and
accused it of passing its responsibilities, on whether wind farms were the
right or wrong use of its land, to council planners.

And she claimed that the commission was also working against the aims of the
Land Reform Bill by delaying permission for a project which would enhance
and signpost a core public access path through Inverliever Forest.

Tony Blair is currently asking people all over Britain for their views on
how the country should be run, and Mrs Henderson said: "I will be writing to
Mr Blair, on behalf of the community council, about this." The Inverleiver
wind farm application has attracted more than 400 letters of objection and
will be the subject of a public hearing some time next year.



LOAD-DATE: December 6, 2003