Windmills of the MindAn indignant letter to the Berwickshire about the latest wind farm project. I doubt if we will be able to see these gentle giants even by standing on our roof and looking south (so thats all right then as some people are likely to say re projects that do not effect them visually. )
, -
Many readers will be unaware of the proposed wind farms at Moorsyde and Toft Hill, near Norham, which are being considered by Berwick Borough Council.If approved, these wind farms, with jointly twenty one 110 metre high turbines, will have a major impact on the present unspoilt beauty of the Merse and will be clearly visible set against the backdrop of the Cheviot.Unfortunately no consultation will take place with the majority of people whom these wind farms will affect as we are outwith Berwick borough.Why do we allow the diminishing countryside to be destroyed when wind farms can sit easily in more industrial areas? The wind turbine on the retail park at Reading on the M4 is an excellent example of utilising an already industrialised landscape.Northumberland and the south of Scotland are already full of existing and proposed wind farms, the agenda for them being driven by developers and land owners. There is a lack of central strategic planning and as a result parts of the existing National Grid may be unable to cope with the additional power load. Surely before more of the countryside is ruined, a central policy should be devised as to the requirement and location of future wind generation.I would urge those who wish to protect this countryside to write to the Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Planning Office.Me, I am not writing. I rather like the windmills and certainly, in my view-literally-they enhance the barren landscape of Soutra on the A68 Perhaps a couple in the wretched, unsightly, unfinished Orchard site in Paxton might brighten things up-a brown field site if ever there was one; especially after rain.
