ONCE again we have to endure the wealthy wind industry’s trade association, Scottish Renewables, roll out one of their astonishing propaganda press releases trying to convince the policy makers that rural Scots support more onshore wind development ("Support for wind farms", The Herald, October 18). This is an industry that has seen its subsidy cash cow being led off to the abattoir to be put out of its misery and is desperately trying to resuscitate it with help from the Scottish Government, WWF and the Green party. There is no word of concern from any of them for the poor consumer who would have to stump up the cash for more subsidies on top of the outrageous hundreds of millions of pounds paid in constraints to turn off the over-deployed wind fleet. A tiny sample of people was polled (0.1 per cent of rural Scots) with no way of us knowing if those asked their opinion live near or are threatened with a wind development. To spin this poll as "evidence" that people living in the country want more industrialisation and an environment further devastated by massive turbines, pylons, access tracks and substations is the stuff of fairy tales.
If those who are excitedly trumpeting this poll all across the media truly believe the results then they should lobby the Scottish Government hard to give communities the wind veto like our counterparts in England enjoy. That would put an end to all these tedious polls and front pages we have had to endure for the last decade because if they are correct then no community would be voting against a wealthy multinational spearing giant industrial hardware into the environment where they live. Or would they?
Lyndsey Ward,
Darach Brae, Beauly.
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