Machrihanish Offshore Windfarm

[williejohn2]

Need to get 'Marine Scotland' address out there and circulated. People need to know how/where they can voice their objections.
Was the Courier there last night ? Surely they would be the best way circulate this kind of information to the rest of Kintyre and Argyll.

Again, fantastic turn out last night..............lets fight this thing !

[mrn]

Think it would be ideal if someone could give a formal update on the meeting, the objectives of the group and what people can do to oppose this ludicrous idea! Basically ensure everyone knows what is needed.

I heard that a similar meeting was held on Tiree recently. Apparently (although this was second or third hand) the locals were told it doesn't matter what they do - the proposal will go ahead regardless.

Rather worrying but amazing that this can be true. Will obviously be important for people to attend the meetings in August to hear first hand what will be said.

[Ninja Mania]

Need to get 'Marine Scotland' address out there and circulated. People need to know how/where they can voice their objections.
Was the Courier there last night ? Surely they would be the best way circulate this kind of information to the rest of Kintyre and Argyll.

Again, fantastic turn out last night..............lets fight this thing !

WJ2 I posted the address in my last post on previous page, and yes there was 3 courier representatives there last night.

[Ags]

It was great to see such a large turnout in Machrihanish Village Hall last night. At least one forum regular is part of the 10 strong committee formed last night so hopefully he will keep us up to date with what is happening. There were at least 3 staff from The Courier at the meeting last night so again hopefully this will be front page news! I'm not sure who has the photo Ship but I am on the case to find out for you! It is quite horrific when you see what could be out there if we do not try our hardest to stop this from happening. The turbines which are due to go in the water are 3 times the size of the turbines at Tangy so you can imagine at 3km from the shore the size these things will be!!
There were Respondent Information Forms available at the meeting last night and if anyone is writing to The Offshore Wind Consultation at the address Ninja has given above, I think from what was said last night, it would be better to fill in one of these forms to send with your comments. I have a bundle if anybody needs one. Remember this must be done by 16th August.
I personally thought the suggestion of a facebook page was a great idea to get the message out there to the wider population. Did the committee vote a yes to that?

[Bonnie Lass]

Are you able to scan the form and put it on here for everyone to print off??

[Ags]

Are you able to scan the form and put it on here for everyone to print off??

Hmm that's maybe a bit too complicated for me but I will have a go Bonnie Lass! If I can't do it I will certainly get a form to Ship Called Dignity who is also going to add the photograph for us!

[John A]

The forms will hopefully be avilable in local shops soon. I will let you know where & when as soon as it is confirmed.

[maganru]

"Hels wrote:
I heard that a similar meeting was held on Tiree recently. Apparently (although this was second or third hand) the locals were told it doesn't matter what they do - the proposal will go ahead regardless."

Having recently been involved when our village was fighting yet another opencast application, I have to agree with Hels. More than 2/3 of the voting population in our village signed a letter objecting to the opencast and it still went through. I blame the Council here as they could have said 'no' from the start and that would have been the end of it.

I live near a windfarm and I actually don't have a problem with it. I do feel, though, that the best place for them is on top of hills away from as many people as possible. Also, we cannot hear any noise from it at all, but there are not 130 turbines.

[Ship called Dignity]

Need to get 'Marine Scotland' address out there and circulated. People need to know how/where they can voice their objections.

Offshore Wind Consultation, Marine Scotland, Area 1 - A (South), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ

However, no-one appears to have the link on their website to the RESPONDENTS INFORMATION FORM so if anyone can supply that I am sure we can highlight this through the forum.

Alternatively, if someone can get the form to me I will arrange for it to be published on the web and can supply the link.

Was the Courier there last night ? Surely they would be the best way circulate this kind of information to the rest of Kintyre and Argyll.

As Ags mentions there were 3 staff from the Courier at the meeting so I am sure they will cover this and highlight the meeting etc which the Courier is always good at. However, williejohn2, I'd probably argue the best way now are to use the Internet and use this forum, Faceboook, Twitter, MySpace etc etc. As Ags says Facebook is great and easy to use and can be linked to articles anywhere. Quite sure if you set a page up it would amaze you how many followers you would have. Obviously this forum is also an excellent tool for keeping people aware of happenings!

Then you have e-mails, Private Messages, Chatrooms etc all of which are free and very effective. (then there is text message etc)

Back to the Windfarm - personally, it would be horrendous.

[maxmix]

This is 2.5 KM out from Great Yarmouth sea front.... I remember it vividly from holiday last year....

Just to give you an indication of whats at stake....



maxmix

[bill]

Back to the Windfarm - personally, it would be horrendous.

I have just read the thread entitled"The Road to Drumleman: Memories of an Argyll Colliery" and wondered what the reaction would be today if the Argyll colliery was in the planning stage.No doubt the same meetings and committees would be in full force to put a stop to it.Yet the colliery was the major employer in the area for many years.You yourself Davie have mentioned your grandfather on your mother's side moved here from Lanarkshire to work in the pit.

Was the opening of the pit all those years ago seen as horrendous ?Was the community in an outrage that the golfers were going to have the colliery encroach upon their course?Let's not forget that a colliery was a mucky and unsightly place,but now it is being remembered with affection,no doubt by many of the same people who want to put a stop to the windfarm.Put it elsewhere ,they say.Put it a couple of miles round the coast where we can't see it,they say.

Personally I think a few wind turbines off the coast would be more agreeable than a coal mine must have been,with all the resulting dirt and traffic,right on Machrihanish's doorstep.

[jowett63]

The URLs for the consultation and related docs are here:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc ... 098585.pdf

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications ... 14155137/1

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc ... 098715.pdf

BUT it is vital that folk do not just respond to the formal consultation but also write directly to Jim Mather and Alex Salmond et al.. MSPs and MEPs only take notice when their mailboxes start filling up. I know Jim Mather has agreed to meet reps of the action committee next Tuesday in Campbeltown to discuss the views expressed at the incredible community meeting last night.

A huge range of options and ideas were discussed to mobilise support against this leviathan development (which is actually little over 1km inshore at the nearest GPS ref given in the official docs) and the committe is meeting again on the 9th of August to formalise the action plan AFTER it has listened to SSE at their public meetings. The committee will bring along printed copies of the consultation response doc and preprinted envelopes to those meetings to hand out to anyone who is having problems getting their hands on them. The committe will also ensure a community response is delivered to the consultation in addition to the personal ones that we hope will be sent in by all concerned individuals.

This is not an offshore windfarm...it is an inshore windfarm and for one reason only, because it is cheaper to do it that way. CO2 reduction is a wonderful aim, but not at the cost of the rich pelagic and ornithilogical habitats of Kintyre and so the SSE profit margins are boosted. That is not a price worth paying.

The clock is ticking on the deadline for responses to the consultation on 16th August, spread the word as widely as you can and by any means possible....to paraphrase Joni Mitchell, they destroyed paradise and made it the West Kintyre Inshore Windfarm.....

[Govangirl]

....to paraphrase Joni Mitchell, they destroyed paradise and made it the West Kintyre Inshore Windfarm.....

I love that, mainly because it's true. And it's also true that it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

I'm going to take some photos of the windfarm off the coast here in Margate at the weekend just to show you how ugly it looks.

[jowett63]

....you should hear my alternative post windfarm version of the Mccartney classic "mull of kintyre, no mist rolls in from the sea!"

[Ags]

Personally I think a few wind turbines off the coast would be more agreeable than a coal mine must have been,with all the resulting dirt and traffic,right on Machrihanish's doorstep.

Problem being Bill - it's not a "few" - it's ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE!!