Three out of four Scots want the country's wild land protected from wind farms, according to a new poll for the John Muir Trust (JMT).
The poll is published today following the decision of the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee last month not to pursue a petition calling for a statutory designation for wild land, from the JMT.
The trust promised to continue the fight to save Scotland's remaining wild land.
It claims its new poll reveals overwhelming support for the proposal that "the 20 per cent of Scotland's landscape identified as core wild land – rugged, remote and free from modern visible human structures – should be given be special protection from inappropriate development including wind farms".
On a five-point scale ranging from 'strongly support' to 'strongly oppose', 40% of the 1119 surveyed said they would 'strongly support' protection for Scotland's wild land, while a further 35% 'tend to support' the proposal. According to the YouGov poll, only 2% 'strongly oppose' protection, while just 4% 'tend to oppose' it. There is also decisive backing for wild land protection across all age groups.
Stuart Brooks, chief executive of the JMT, said the poll provided the government with an "overwhelming mandate to introduce robust wild land protection".
Meanwhile, new research and guidance from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has been published on effective methods of dismantling wind farms to ensure they leave as little trace as possible. It provides guidance on the development of a Restoration and Decommissioning Plan (RDP) template.
Kenny Taylor, renewables policy and advice officer with SNH, said: "In our experience developers are keen to consider the issue of decommissioning their wind farm when the time comes."
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