The "tiny vocal minority" of wind-farm protesters has obviously rattled some big cages if they are getting the blame for delaying wind-farm developments ("Energy giants condemn wind-farm protesters", The Herald, June 2).
Becoming a member of an opposition group is how these protesters can lend support while remaining anonymous. It is thanks to these conscientious and committed members of the public that the questionable environmental information submitted with wind-farm applications is scrutinised to a greater degree than would be the case if left to officials trying to manage from Alex Salmond's hubristic utopian vision. Due to pressure from developers and unrealistic delivery targets set by councils and the Scottish Government, developments are still approved based on inadequate assessments.
It is not wind-farm protesters who are holding up the big boys' development plans; it is their own lack of transparency. Perhaps Vattenfall's diatribe indicates a realisation within the voracious green energy industry that their bluff has been called and that they may have to pan for gold elsewhere.
Aileen Jackson,
Knockglass,
Uplawmoor.
I object most strongly to Vattenfall's comments to Holyrood's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. What is swaying decision-makers is the hard evidence brought to the table by dedicated and well-informed people with a genuine wish to safeguard Scotland's rapidly diminishing unspoiled landscapes. Objectors represent much more than a "tiny minority" as the general public become better informed about wind energy and its failure to deliver any solution to the UK's energy needs while steadily increasing costs to consumers. How long will it be before our political leaders recognise the catastrophic mistake they have made and remove the subsidies that are driving the Klondyke-like rush to ruin this country?
Alan Keith,
Airds Farm, Crossmichael,
Castle Douglas.
How predictable that multinational companies complain about being unable to ride roughshod over both the planning process and the legitimate, unquestionable right of the people in Scotland to express a democratic principle in their right to freedom of expression.
If these companies do not like to conform to the rules of our country then they should find another country that does not have the same stringent planning laws or free speech.
The enormous subsidies we pay for wind farms, an unreliable energy source, is staggering. The voices of those willing to speak out must continue to be heard, however unpalatable they might be for companies whose reason for being is pure profit.
Raymond Pratt,
Deer Cottage,
Park of Auchentroig,
Balfron Station.
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