I CAN appreciate Stuart Young's concerns regarding the difficulty to move around Caithness without a wind farm in sight, whenever a long view is available ("Bid to halt wind farm plans over switch-off payments", The Herald, November 4).
Tiny East Renfrewshire may not have the stunning scenery and tourist industry which giant Caithness enjoys, but it is home to many people, living in rural properties, villages and old and new housing developments.
The majority of rural East Renfrewshire is designated as green belt, recognising the importance and inherent sensitivity of the landscape. In addition to this sensitivity there was the value of this landscape offering recreational opportunities and a contrast in relation to the adjacent urban landscape.
Sadly, East Renfrewshire now only offers an industrialised, wind farm landscape to those who not only once cherished it as their home, but to neighbours in Glasgow's southside, one of Scotland's premier cities, which suffers from one of the worst health records in Europe and whose residents more than most need an escape to the peace and tranquillity of the country to enjoy and benefit from recreational activities.
Unlike Caithness, residents of East Renfrewshire are confronted with wind turbines no matter which way they turn or how long or short the view.
A day trip to the centre of Glasgow gives no respite, as Whitelee wind farm is seen in all its glory from the top of Buchanan Street and the single (at present) gigantic monstrosity on the Cathkin Braes is visible all the way home on the train from Glasgow Central to Neilston station.
A wise friend once told me there were three different types of people in the world; those who made things happen, those who watched things happening and those who wondered what happened.
I believe East Renfrewshire Council has allowed this to happen; the residents and neighbours of East Renfrewshire have watched in disbelief as it happened and our grandchildren will ask why we allowed this to happen.
Aileen Jackson,
Knockglass,
Uplawmoor,
East Renfrewshire.
I WRITE to offer some much-needed clarification regarding your article about wind farms and constraint payments.
I have looked into the constraint payments that National Grid makes to electricity generators in order to, in its own words, "operate the transmission system in an efficient, economic and co-ordinated manner".
According to National Grid, from April, 2012 to March, 2013 it cost £169.6m to constrain all types of electricity generators from the grid. During the same period, the cost of constraining wind farms was £7.16m.
While it is clearly preferable to reduce the costs of constraint payment to as low a level as possible, through investment in improved grid infrastructure, it strikes me as odd to fixate on the cost of constraint payments to wind farms which only received around 4% of the total, when the other 96% goes to other forms of electricity generation such as coal and gas power plants.
Jenny Hogan,
Director of Policy,
Scottish Renewables,
Bath Street,
Glasgow.
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