Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) last published their wind farm maps in August 2013. As mentioned in my previous blog post rumours abound as to why they have not been forthcoming in issuing the up-to-date maps showing the Scottish wind farms - Installed, Approved, Applied For and Scoping. Could it be that the map will be so shocking it might just sway voters in the coming elections?
Who knows!
However, I have been sent the map showing just this information, not by SNH, but from Alex Major, who used to work in the team that developed these maps at SNH. He wants to make it clear that this information is freely available at https://gateway.snh.gov.uk/natural-spaces/ and Natural Spaces - Scottish Natural Heritage
Take a close look at areas you are familiar with. Close your eyes and remember what they looked like the last time you visited. And now open them again and see the true horror that is the result of the Scottish Government’s insane energy policy. Click on the map. It will blow up much larger in a new window.
NOTE! THIS IS THE SECOND ITERATION OF THE MAP WHICH ALSO SHOWS THE LAND THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT DESIGNATED AS ‘WILD LAND’
CLICK TO ENLARGE. THIS MAP ALSO SHOWS AREAS DESIGNATED ‘WILD LAND’
IF YOU WISH TO DOWNLOAD A FULL SIZE VERSION OF THIS MAP CLICK HERE
It’s not a pretty sight, is it? Alex assures me that you can display this information on Google Earth as the information can be downloaded as a kml file. It is obvious that as yet SNH do not have all the wind farm information. For instance, I can see that the data for Aberchalder and Bunnloin haven’t made it to SNH yet. And of course, this map does not show the thousands of individual turbines that litter Scotland like confetti.
Quite why SNH has not published this data is surely worth pursuing. They are a publicly funded organisation and have a remit to be transparent as the data is publicly owned. Their behaviour disgusts me.
The behaviour of the Energy Companies, SNH, SNP, Landowners and all the greedy self greed and political climbing bastards disgusts me. All those that make money out of this appauling monumental scam and assault on nature make me sick. If any of them have the gaul to pretend they have green credentials they should hide in shame. Talking of Greens, they are just as bad and just as guilty. It almost makes me ashamed of my species. Except looking at the world I realise what a fucked up appauling species we are and so as annoyed as I am I am not surprised.
ReplyDeleteRight I am off to take my medication now.
But even after that these ***TS will still piss me off.
And breathe.
What he said!
ReplyDeleteSee that large area on the south east side of the Isle of Lewis? It's home to golden eagles (nesting pairs), sea eagles (nesting pairs), lapwings, otters, seals, a myriad of small bird species, hue quantities of wild mussels, sea trout, I could go on and on. The Scottish government's destruction of our wild places is utterly despicable. God help wild Wales and scenic England if Queen Nicola ever gets even half her butt on the throne at Westminster!
ReplyDeleteChristine MacDonald is too modest to post this, but I think it is exceptionally good,and for me sums up perfectly the wrong-headedess of wind farm supporters.
ReplyDeleteThis poem was written about the corner of Lewis Christine mentions in her comment above.
Eisgean
A corner set apart,
An other world on the boundaries of everyday life.
A solace, a restoration, a source of true reality.
Sunlight glints on sapphire sea lochs,
Sheep mooch carelessly on windswept hills,
Wheatears flit from post to post, blurring peach and black and white.
A dipper bobs its rhythm in a stony burn, whilst a curlew's call ripples the air.
High, high above, the eagle surveys this life-filled scape,
Wing tips fanned, alert to the smallest breath,
Soaring glorious in golden freedom.
But a threat also lurks, forbidding in the air,
A ghost of greed and self-promotion,
A curse of those whose avarice sings in harmony with the hum of turbines,
Whose deliberate blindness sells them a dream, inferior and incomplete.
A dream that whirs on spinning blades of desecration,
Bulldozing age-old beauty for a monstrous rotating re-birth.
A dream of 'modern' men who fail to comprehend their life-link to the land.
'Renewable' they call it,
'The way forward' they say.
Astounding in their ignorance, they seek to renew by destruction,
Promoting annihilation in the name of sustainability!Morally bereft, they ignore the daily eternal renewal by morning dew and opal-pink sunrise.
When this bewildering madness is complete,
And the gaggle of gibbering experts have found another toy,
Who will renew the eagles' cry in ancient crags?Who will renew the skylarks' song over heather dusted moors?
Who will heal a landscape raped in the name of progress,
And reverse the betrayal?
For the 'way forward' was never lost.
Those with eyes to look back through countless generations
See it written large in their forefathers' passion for their land.
How beautiful, and how sad.
DeleteChristine - could WEA have your permission to copy this on to our facebook page? - we will, of course, credit you. It has such great appeal, not only to Scots and those in the rest of the UK but it will have pathos to so many of our followers who live overseas.
I've had some feedback on twitter and FaceBook. Even this supposedly up-to-date data from SNH appears to be out of date!
ReplyDeleteNoted as missing are the following wind farms (so far)
Bunloinn
Aberchalder
Braes of Doune
Novar
Fairburn
Glenmorie
Carr Ban
If anymore come to light I'll add them in another comment.
Every time we return for a family holiday on the West coast there are even more turbines. I've actually started to dread the journey as it is so depressing to see how these once stunning landscapes are disappearing beneath these industrial blights. This map must be out of date almost as soon as it is completed!
ReplyDeletePoliticians who have foisted this on OUR country ought to be made to look at this and hang their heads in shame. Even with this map, many turbines are missing - particularly in Fife (http://scotlandagainstspin.org/resources/east-fife-turbines-map-details/) Aberdeenshire (http://www.cawt.co.uk/index.php), and Sutherland (http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk/WindfarmMaps.htm#sutherland) What a hellish legacy to leave our children and grand children!!!
ReplyDeleteTo help readers view the full horror of George's excellent links I've made them 'clickable:'
DeleteFIFE
ABERDEENSHIRE
SUTHERLAND
Please take a few moments to look at the devastation inflicted upon these places.
Thank you.
Head in hands. How can they do this?
ReplyDeleteThey do this because the Scottish Government are of the badly mistaken belief that they will gain from the taxes levied on the electricity produced by the wind farms exporting the power to England.
DeleteHowever, what they are now realising is this rush to wind makes the conventional generation (Longannet coal fired power station) wildly uneconomic (which is odd, since it is the SG's intention to replace fossil fueled plants in favour of wind), which means that in periods of low wind they will be importing electricity from England at a much more expensive rate.
In a nutshell, the Scottish Government is an economic imbecile.
Sadly, I suspect things are much worse than shown on this map. Aberdeenshire is a wind farm hotspot yet it shows relatively few of these monstrosities (e.g. the Mid Hill development in Fetterreso isn't shown). I wonder if there is also a lower limit on size? This web page lists more Aberdeenshire farms.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.variablepitch.co.uk/county/2/list/
Thank you Ian.
DeleteYes, the map is already out of date - Alex Major has had to rely on the data set from SNH. You will see a more accurate representation from the links from 'Geomac' that I have just made clickable a few comments further up the comment chain.
It is all incredibly ghastly and the main reason I am not walking across Scotland on the TGO Challenge after this year. I just cannot face it any more.
Seemingly the SNP is doing its best to devastate Scotland´s wild horizons for generations.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a Scot proud of the natural and scenic beauties of my Homeland I would take action and carry a fiery cross across the streets of Edinburgh and other Scottish cities.
I only wonder why there is no joint action against this desctruction policy? Are there no Scottish celebrities out there who are proud of the world-class beauty of their homeland and are ready to take action ...
People of Scotland, your country needs YOU!
It was Joseph Goebbels who said
Delete“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Scotland's SNP behave in exactly the same fashion.
(They have also armed the police force and want to introduce ID Cards via the back door, to keep tabs on their population. They are also trying to control parenting by having a "responsible adult" (not the child's parents) to look after each child's welfare.
Ah, I think that the deafening silence in the face of calls to action will speak volumes here. Many vigorous and intelligent Scots have left their homeland over the years - I speak not of the Clearances - and for good reason. John Muir's beard would have turned white overnight.
DeleteIt does speak volumes ... On my walks across the Highlands I´ve met many locals who are strongly opposed to this destruction policy which will change the Highland scenery for the worse. It seems as if they have forgotten their democratic rights ...
ReplyDeleteYou have to remember that the majority of the Scots live in the Central Belt, in towns and cities. I would guess that the majority of them don't visit the hills regularly and so have no idea what is happening and what is proposed for the Highlands - and certainly not for Dumfries & Galloway.
DeleteAs for forgetting their democratic rights - well, the Scottish Government is doing its best to trample over over them.
Let's be honest - Scotland is fucked.
I´m aware of that, Alan. The urban dwellers have no idea what they and their children will be losing. Seemingly a world of steel, concrete and electronic gadgets will be enough to meet their requirements.
ReplyDeletePeople care about that what they love ... Going on a march is the oldest form of protest. The Edinburgh Fringe with its myriads of tourists from all over the world would provide a proper framework to carry banners, information graphs and last but not least a fiery cross in a peaceful manner through the streets of Auld Reekie to the doorsteps of those who are responsible for the desecration of one of the grandest nature paradises in the world.
Scots Wha Hae :)
Where is Shetland on that map? We have the largest (and possibly most controversial) approved wind farm in Scotland, it seems odd that it would be missing.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon
DeleteI'm sorry Shetlands not there - but I can only post on here the data that's available.
Another glaring omission from the Scottish Government.
:-(