Opponents say the wind farm could destroy huge areas of peatland
Lewis, the most northerly island in the Hebrides, is home to one of the
largest peatland habitats left in Europe.
The blanket bog occupies thousands of hectares, forming an environment
of waterlogged splendour that supports dozens of rare bird and insect
species.
For the inhabitants of Lewis, particularly the crofters whose system for
working this land dates to Medieval times, the peatlands are the living
heart of this island.
But its traditional economies are in terminal decline and council
leaders warn that the numbers of young people leaving in search of
better prospects on the mainland are fuelling a demographic crisis.
Some believe the way forward for Lewis lies in making use of one of its
untapped natural resources: the wind. Three wind farms have been
proposed for Lewis, with the collective potential to generate more than
1,000 megawatts of electricity.
Visual impact
The council believes the wind farms could turn around the island s
fortunes, transforming Lewis into the renewable energy capital of Europe.
But the plans will also transform the landscape, lining it with hundreds
of huge turbines. The largest of the schemes, to be situated on the
north Lewis moor, comprises 190 turbines, each 140m tall. The rotor
blades on the turbines will be so large, a jumbo jet could easily fit
inside their circumference.
The north Lewis wind farm alone is reckoned to be the largest onshore
wind farm development in Europe.
Fears about the visual and noise impact of the enormous turbines and
their effects on the islands natural ecology have fomented a broad base
of opposition to the plans. Traditionally, islanders have lived in
close-knit, devoutly Presbyterian communities, with a deep-rooted pride
in their agricultural self-sufficiency and sense of Gaelic nationhood.
Last year, some islanders burned an effigy of a wind turbine and there
is talk of direct action if the plans go ahead.
I look at the long term aspects - we need an economy here, beautiful
place as it is
Opponents say the 702-megawatt scheme would destroy vast areas of
peatland, which are protected under UK and European law. Four million
cubic metres of rock would need to be excavated from five new quarries
on Lewis to build 167km of new roads and foundations dug deep into the
peat.
Finlay MacLeod, a writer and former lecturer from Lewis says: "Because
they couldnt put the wind farm through the central area of the
peatland, which is a Special Area of Conservation, they put them on the
periphery, which is very close to the townships.
"The visual impact of the turbines will be very overwhelming. They re
going to be loud. There are various videos which show the sound in some
places is a nightmare - and none of those turbines are as big as these
will be.
"You can imagine the noise with 200 of them strung along here, and they
are so high and so large."
Decision time
The north Lewis proposals are due to be submitted to the Scottish
Executive in mid-August. Two further wind farms are planned for the
south-east of the island.
Kevin Murray, island representative for Lewis Wind Power, which is
developing the largest scheme in North Lewis, told BBC News: "Im a
local person who works for Amec and I take stick for that. But I look at
the long-term aspects - we need an economy here, beautiful place as it
is. I believe you can build something like this without destroying the
landscape.
Peat cut from the moor was traditionally used in open fires
"There are people who tell me: My three children have good jobs on the
mainland. And I think, hold on a minute. So youre prepared for your
children to be with you for 18 years, then to go away and thats it - to
become a picture on the mantelpiece and a card at Christmas?"
The Scottish Executive has received 6,131 objections to the scheme, with
4,573 of these from Lewis postcodes. The scheme has received only 22
pledges of support. Council leaders say not all objections are based on
opposition to the principle of a wind farm. Instead, some relate to
positions of individual turbines and to details of financial packages,
they argue.
But last year, a Mori poll commissioned by BBC Scotland showed that 55%
of 802 people questioned in Lewis and neighbouring North Harris objected
to the plans, with 42% expressing strong opposition. But 29% said they
backed the proposals with 18% strongly backing the schemes.
And when the islands Labour MP of nearly 20 years, Calum MacDonald, was
unseated in the 2005 general election, outrage at the wind farm
proposals was seen by many as a factor in his defeat.
Council backing
Leaders of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) have
backed the wind farms on the grounds that "hard decisions" must be made
to secure a future for the island and its people.
They could offer me £100,000 and it wouldn t make any difference
Catriona Campbell, Moorland Without Turbines
"Sitting and doing nothing and leaving everything the way it is doesn t
seem to be a realistic and viable way forward," says Calum Ian McIver,
head of economic development for the council.
"We have a fragile economy dependent on very few economic sectors:
fishing, fish farming, crofting. But these traditional industries are
slowly contracting around us," he adds. "The latest Common Agricultural
Policy reform will contract us even further, moving us away from
production into other areas."
Lewis Wind Power, which is made up of the companies Amec and British
Energy, says more than 300 jobs would be created during the wind farms
four-year construction and a further 350 jobs over its 25-year lifetime.
In addition, it is offering between £2m and £3.5m in annual rental
income to the crofters grazing their animals on land hosting the
turbines. Islanders will also receive community benefits totalling an
estimated £560,000 per year with an option to exchange these payments
for a stake in the wind farm.
Traditional industries such as fishing are contracting
Catriona Campbell, chair of Moorland Without Turbines (MWT), a campaign
group opposed to the schemes, says that individual crofters would
receive between £1,000 and £4,000 a year, depending on the number of
turbines and crofters in each village.
But she affirms: "They could offer me £100,000 and it wouldn t make any
difference."
Ms Campbell, who is a crofter and Gaelic teacher, says the project would
devastate the moor. She told me there was a lack of consultation with
islanders on the proposals: "They just thought they could go ahead and
do this," she said. "Its an attitude of We know best and Youre just
children who cant make up your minds."
Bird collisions
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has serious
concerns for the rare bird populations living on the moor. It estimates
that 50 golden eagles and between 100 and 250 red-throated divers could
be killed by collisions with turbine rotor blades during the
developments 25-year lifetime.
"Because of the size and scale of the schemes, the overall impact is
going to be massive," says Martin Scott, Western Isles conservation
officer for the RSPB. "Its going to be very hard to mitigate against
that. Wildlife on the island is very rich and unique."
The RSPB says golden eagles could be killed in collisions with turbines
Anne McCall, the RSPB s head of planning and development for Scotland,
says the Lewis Wind Power scheme is "a project of superlatives, the
largest wind farm on the most heavily designated site".
But one islander told me: "We outstrip all local authorities for land
mass against area designated. And if that s stifling economic
development, are we getting a raw deal?"
The Scottish Executive is also scrutinising a 159-megawatt scheme of 53
turbines on the Eisgein estate, in south-west Lewis. A 250-megawatt wind
farm of 125 turbines at nearby Pairc is also planned.
It is up to the Executive to grant permission for each of the schemes,
and some observers suspect the Lewis Wind Power application could yet go
to a public inquiry
(Por Paul Rincon,
BBC, 25/07/2006)