The Kintyre Forum

I am a former pupil at Campbeltown Grammar School and I am currently undertaking research for my final year dissertation as part of my Geography degree at the University of St Andrews. The title of my dissertation is Public Attitudes to Commercial and Community Owned Windfarms in SW Scotland and my main study areas are Kintyre and Gigha.

Part of the research involves surveys of public views towards windfarms and the surveys can now be completed online at www.windfarms.homestead.com. As well as questionnaires for residents, there are also questionnaires that visitors to Kintyre and Gigha can fill out. The surveys only take around 10 minutes to complete and are totally anonymous. You do not have to be an expert on wind power to take part as the aim is to get an overall idea of the range of public opinions. I am interested in hearing from anybody aged 18 or over who lives in Kintyre or Gigha or has visited Kintyre or Gigha in the last year.

As well as the surveys, the research also involves various interviews and mapping of the zones of visual impact of the windfarms. The ultimate aim is to build up a comprehensive picture of views on the windfarms and their impact on the aesthetic appeal of the area. Since Gigha has the first community owned, grid-connected windfarm in Scotland, this adds an interesting extra dimension to the research. The more people that fill out the online surveys at www.windfarms.homestead.com the more accurately the results will reflect the overall opinion of residents and visitors to Kintyre and Gigha. In order to reach a wider range of people, I will also be out and about around Kintyre and Gigha over the next few weeks conducting further surveys in person.

Good questionnaire Malcolm, I'm afraid that the pro and anti lobbies will try to affect the outcome of your work using their networks. Are you doing a parallel clipboard based survey at the coop or tesco say. I'd be interested to see if they diverge from the web based one.

Excellent survey Malcolm - good luck with your project!

John S wrote:Good questionnaire Malcolm, I'm afraid that the pro and anti lobbies will try to affect the outcome of your work using their networks. Are you doing a parallel clipboard based survey at the coop or tesco say. I'd be interested to see if they diverge from the web based one.

I have realised that some people may attempt to sway the results one way or another and I'm therefore taking a number of steps to filter out any such abuse of the online questionnaires. I have already been carrying out exactly the same questionnaires in person and will be continuing to do so around Kintyre and Gigha over the next few weeks. I will be making comparisons between the online and in-person surveys.

When the dissertation is complete in early December I will contact the courier with the findings and will also make the full dissertation available online for anyone who is interested.

Thanks to everyone that has filled out the online survey or talked to me in person so far, but please keep it up. After a massive response in the first 24 hours of posting on the Kintyre Forum, things have now slowed down. If you have not completed a survey yet, please do. It only takes about 10 mins.

One other point - the survey is anonymous, but I may use quotes from your responses. These will simply refer to you as a Kintyre resident or a visitor to Gigha, for example.

Are you still doing your survey, or am I jees a wee bit slow as usual???

Annie wrote:Are you still doing your survey, or am I jees a wee bit slow as usual???

Yes, surveys for residents and visitors to both Kintyre and Gigha are still available online at www.windfarms.homestead.com

I would be so inclined to submit my two pennies to your survey, but I found it not in working order this afternoon.

Jees a lot o' wee X's!!

Annie wrote:I would be so inclined to submit my two pennies to your survey, but I found it not in working order this afternoon.

Jees a lot o' wee X's!!

I've just checked the website and I can't see any problems with it at the moment. I've also had a few survey responses since you said you had trouble. Here is the link to try again:

www.windfarms.homestead.com

If it still doesn't work, the only thing I could suggest is trying it on a different computer.

Well ye know these darn computers in the library, they are crap! Tried it again today, no chance!

Will have to wait until I get back home next week, I suppose!

Cheers and good luck!