Machrihanish Offshore Windfarm

[imas2]

A welcome piece of luck on this occasion - no more, no less.

O ye of little faith!

It's a sad day when the contribution of so many is classified as LUCK.

Well done to all those who influenced this astounding decision.

[jowett63]

Funnily enough Sheik I asked Susan Scobie the SSE lead on their ex Kintyre project that very question - how much did the campaign influence their decision? Her response was "as SSE has withdrawn from this development please address all correspondence on the kintyre Site to the Crown Estate"

I think we have upset them.....

Frankly I don't care if it was luck, lack of wind or the local campaign, all i know is that next time I am driving south from Tarbert to Campbeltown and crest the rise at Glenbarr where the whole bay from Machrihanish to Antrim and round to Jura opens out in one magnificent sweep before my always incredulous eyes....I will not have to wince at the sight of 105 enormous inshore turbines festering across 70km2 of the seascape below. sucking subsidised profits from our pockets for SSE and returning nothing but a damaged environment, a wrecked leisure sector and hollow promises to Kintyre.

You do make a very good point though, the fate of isolated communities should never again be left to the whim of luck and the decision of corporate boardrooms. Offshore construction should be subject to the same planning considerations as onshore developments and subject to the same local accountability. Similarly the unelected, unaccountable and despotic Crown Estate should never be in a position to lease vast tracts of Scottish seabed in grubby commercial deals to raise revenues for the London government. It is Scottish Coastal communities who have to live with the outcomes of their autcratic decisions, so those communities should have the greatest say in the fate and benefits of those decisions. Control of the Scottish seabed must reside with the Scottish people and not the Crown Estate lackeys in Edinburgh.

[russanros]

A welcome piece of luck on this occasion - no more, no less.

O ye of little faith!

It's a sad day when the contribution of so many is classified as LUCK.

Well done to all those who influenced this astounding decision.

It does make you wonder though, the Solway offshore windfarm got built despite widespread local opposition as have many landbased windfarms, I dont think it is just luck.

I do believe that there was a risk to safe operation of shipping and the plane, I think the action group did well to point this out and not appear to be just in the interests of their own backyards?

The group has done very well to defeat this and save the magnificent beaches for future generations, however it was achieved. Well done!

[Bonnie Lass]

Can anything be done to register the area as SSSI or something like that ??

[Nancie]

Well done Bob. you're on my side the next time there's a big campaign.

[SKYKON EMPLOYEE]

Oh well, just need to crack on with the Argyll Array. Maybe KOWAG can join in on that campaign and point out all the alleged flaws in that development.

So KOWAG , you are seasoned campaigners, take your flaws ( which mean nothing to you but gives you case for argument) and start all over again.

Sorry I forgot, the majority of people from Tiree actually want them.

KOWAG stopped the Machrihanish Bay offshore windfarm, don't make me laugh

[imas2]

Oh well, just need to crack on with the Argyll Array. Maybe KOWAG can join in on that campaign and point out all the alleged flaws in that development.

So KOWAG , you are seasoned campaigners, take your flaws ( which mean nothing to you but gives you case for argument) and start all over again.

Sorry I forgot, the majority of people from Tiree actually want them.

KOWAG stopped the Machrihanish Bay offshore windfarm, don't make me laugh

Someone once wrote 'Cynicism is full of naive disappointments', I think he may have been right.

[SKYKON EMPLOYEE]

The only people being naive my friend is the KOWAG campaigners.

[jowett63]

Well Skykon Employee if KOWAG had nothing to do with SSE's decision , then it just lends more weight to the argument that the location of this inshore site was profoundly flawed...because SSE would never have just walked away from a shallow water, easy to pillage site in Machrihanish Bay ripe for shareholder dividend otherwise....

You are venting your spleen at the wrong people though, KOWAG only tried to defend a wonderful community resource from exploitation by a company that saw an opportunity for a quick mega buck, because the Crown estate was willing sell off part of the Scottish seabed with no planning, no democratic and no social or community control. Putting an offshore scale windfarm on the beaches of Kintyre was at best folly and at worse criminal. There are a gazillion more socially, environmental, less damaging and windrich places they could have prospected, but the scottish Coast is an unregulated Klondyke for them. Next week the Government publishes it plan for offshore wind - it should have been in place 3 years ago before the British Crown Estate starting parcelling out our coast to the highest bidder.

BTW how do you know the majority of people on Tiree are in favour of the Argyll Array? - I have seen nothing that substantiates this - quite the opposite. You should take care when making such assertions based on nothing and undermining other communities groups from your own position of partiality. It does you no credit.

Just because we have a wind turbine manufacturing plant does not mean we have to support every heinous wind development proposal, no matter how inappropriate, but opposing a particularly grotesque development on our doorstep does not mean we are anti-Skykon, quite the opposite there is not single person in KOWAG or who opposed SSE's plans who is not rooting completely for the success of that venture. Direct your anger at those who have tried to divide this community by letting a manifestly bad wind development be conjured up because of their self interest, lack of regulatory control and desire for profit at any cost. If they had done this properly they would have chosen an appropriate location from amongst the thousands available and leased a truly offshore site.

[russanros]

Excellent post as usual,

how do you know the majority of people on Tiree are in favour of the Argyll Array? - I have seen nothing that substantiates this - quite the opposite.

I do hope KOWAG will help those to form a stronger campaign, the manufacturing issue is seperate, as long as there are wind-turbines being made I hope that the Machrihanish factory gets to build all of them.

A leading environmentalist (looking for article-will post when I find)
- has said that the total combined (KwH) output of all present and proposed windturbines in the UK could be matched or bettered by bringing older homes & buildings up to present building regs for insulation, when you consider all the 'old' buildings in Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland- the whole UK, that would add up to a pretty huge job creation project bigger than any singular turbine producing company,

Conservation is key, but the electricty company would rather you didn't know that, cos its bad for business!

[Machrihanish]

Well done KOWAG

I think jowett63 hit the nail on the head when he mentioned the magic words "ripe for shareholder dividend" !
Unless they plan to put one of these turbines in everyone's back gardens all they are doing is making some folk very rich.
We have other far more manageable and viable sources of alternative energy that could be implemented without destroying the countryside. Here's a wee hint..we are an island
Oh and I'm not here for a debate with any of the green party or skycon employees. Just wanted to add my congratulations to KOWAG for a job very well done and to add my two penneth worth.

[jowett63]

Today the Scottish Ministers have dropped the Kintyre site from their Final Plan for Offshore Wind http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/295194/0115206.pdf. This puts the final nail in the coffin of the flawed Crown Estate/SSE plan to develop Machrihanish Bay. SSE had already dropped their interest but this decision means that no other developer can site an inshore windfarm here.

Scottish Ministers have recognised the overwhelming validity of arguments against the site and in their Plan they say:

"Kintyre - This site as chosen presents significant problems for the development of

offshore wind. The significant strategic issues include a lack of public acceptability

on environmental and visual impact grounds as well as impacts on existing and

potential future investment opportunities. As a result, the Scottish Ministers have

decided that the Kintyre site is unsuitable for the development of offshore wind

and should not be progressed as part of this Sectoral Marine Plan. "

The post adoption statementhttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/03/17170331/0, which contains more information about the reasons for the Minister's decisions goes on to say:

"The consultation in particular reinforced the findings of the SEA and emphasised that the development would not be publicly acceptable to many who live and visit Kintyre. It was anticipated that these issues would be extremely difficult to resolve at the project level for the following reasons:

•Resolution of the likely significant effects of the development on internationally and nationally significant landscapes and seascapes.
•Consideration of increasing the distance of the site from the coast, resulting in significant visual impacts.
•The potential for adverse effects on tourism and recreation, including investment in the Machrihanish Dunes international golf course project. A full socio-economic study relating specifically to the site would have been required.
•Technical issues arising for the navigation and aviation sectors.
•Effects on biodiversity, which include, but also extend beyond designated sites, species and habitats and the sensitivities raised by consultees, particularly in connection with birds, fish and rare species.
•Potential effects on the wave climate, water quality, sediments and coastal processes, which could adversely impact on coastal features and stability, Machrihanish beach and recreation activities including surfing.
•Impacts on the fishing sector.
•Impacts on aviation and flight activity into and out of Campbeltown Airport.
• Significant community opposition and lack of public acceptability of the proposal."

These are all the reasons that KOWAG said the location of this development was wholly inappropriate and it is a successful conclusion to an intensive period of campaigning that began with the huge public meeting in Machrihanish last July.

The government has kept the W4 Medium term site option off the Mull of Kintyre on the Plan and gave a strong steer that it may be fastracked, by saying..."Further work is required in this Region and in adjacent Scottish Offshore Waters to consider whether other development proposals could be brought forward for consideration into the short term". However until any firm proposals are brought forward they cannot be assessed by the local community. The W4 location is however genuinely offshore and may therefore have far fewer of the obvious disbenefits that afflicted the Kintyre site.

For now it enough to celebrate the fact that Machrihanish bay will remain the unspoiled and beautiful place of sanctuary and enjoyment it has ever been to people and wildlife alike.

[jowett63]

Meeting to Formally Dissolve KOWAG. 26th April at 7.30pm in Machrihanish Village Hall. All Members Welcome.

Last July the population of West Kintyre united in horror at proposals by Crown Estate and SSE for the siting of a gargantuan windfarm a hearbeat off the unspoiled, award winning beaches of Machrihanish. Following a public meeting in Machrihanish Hall they formed the Kintyre Offshore Windfarm Action Group to fight the and defeat the proposals. A Committee of 20 local people co-ordinated a campaign of action, information and lobbying of key players.
In early March SSE conceaded defeat and withdrew their interest in the lease for the windfarm A couple of weeks later the Scottish Government ruled out any development on the site by excluding it from their plans for offshore wind. Crown Estate still arrogantly refuse to accept the inappropriateness of the site they are trying to lease to raise grubby money, but that is academic - the proposal is dead and buried.
KOWAG has fulfilled the objective in its constitution and will now disband. The correct way for this to happen is by a special general meeting of its Members. This meeting will take place at 7.30 on 26th April in Machrihanish Village Hall. Members will vote to dissolve the group, arrange for the disbursement of remaining funds and close the group's accounts.
The remaining funds of over £600 will be donated to benefit local charities.
It is sad that so much time has been taken out of the lives of so many people to campaign against a site that was manifestly wrong and chosen by two organisations with profit rather than social responsibility in mind. However it has shown that a united community can influence national policy and boardrooms.
It has also shown how powerful this Forum is as a medium for informing people of the issues, topical developments and different opinions. Thousands of views and 36 pages of posts are testament to how important this was to people who cherish Kintyre