Monthly Archives: November 2013

RES UK & Ireland Ltd – Keirs Hill update

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Beady eyed supporters may have noticed that RES UK & Ireland Ltd posted details of their planning application  for Keirs Hill Windfarm (formally known as Sclenteuch) in last weeks Ayrshire post.  The development project manager contacted SSfS on Thursday to say there had been a last minute delay, but had not had time to withdraw the advert.  He provided the following note to post on this website:

“Please note, the application for the Keirs Hill Wind Farm has not yet been submitted and the Environmental Statement is not available for viewing. The advert in Ayrshire Post (dated Friday 22nd) was placed in error.

SSfS do not have details of new dates yet but will provide them as soon as they are available.

Mad money: Scotland’s new gold rush

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn an excellent article in the Scottish Review by editor, Kenneth Roy, the background of WilloWind is detailed – as far as details can be ascertained from this rather secretive company as their investors prefer to remain anonymous.
“The people who do business at 30 St James’s Square, London SW1, are 350 miles from the conservation village of Straiton on the Ayrshire-Galloway border, though much further if distance can also be measured by temperament and outlook. But the worlds of corporate London and rural Scotland, which have kept to their own patches until now, can no longer avoid each other. They are engaged in a battle to decide how our countryside will look and feel – even sound – for at least the next quarter of a century.
As individuals, the people who do business at 30 St James’s Square, London SW1, keep the lowest of profiles on the internet and their company’s website is a small one – it tells us little of interest about the business and names none of the directors. It is merely ‘passionate about renewable energy’. As well it might be.
What we do know is that WilloWind Energy Ltd, though shy about itself, is far from shy about its ambitions for Straiton and the neighbouring villages of Kirkmichael and Crosshill. It proposes to build 25 wind turbines there.”
To read more click here.

Linfairn update – time is up!

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SSfS Chairman, Bill Steven spreading the SSfS message at the ECDU offices!

Well, the last few days of the Linfairn campaign saw an immense push and those final objections literally came flooding in!   We don’t have the official count, but there are believed to be over 3000 individual objections that made it to the Energy Consents Unit by Monday 11th November!  A huge thank you to everybody who took the time to make their feelings known – for a community the size of Straiton to see such support has provided a fantastic boost to this campaign and has really impressed politicians, fellow campaigners, and the local media.

Some of the committee went up to Glasgow on Monday to personally hand over thousands of objections, along with professional  material prepared by our Noise, Landscape and Planning experts, as well as supplementary objection material prepared by SSfS.  We have put those documents online now so you can see everything in black and white.  Have a good read, it is our opinion that these documents speak for themselves in terms of where this application should be heading…

Landscape assessment – Mark Steele
Landscape assessment – Appendix
Noise report – Dick Bowdler
Planning opinion – Ian Kelly
Supplementary objection submission – SSfS
Visit Straiton – Objection

There will be a bit of a wait now as all the statutory consultees have to prepare their own responses to the application, but we will keep feeding back information as it becomes available. This is only the beginning, there is still a big hill to climb, but we’ve certainly made a cracking start  thanks to all your fantastic support.

Linfairn objections – time is running out!

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time-running-away

We’re running out of time … Object Now to Linfairn Windfarm!

Well this has been an excellent campaign so far!  Our supporters have really pulled out the stops and objections have been, and are still flooding in from far and wide. We have also received the reports prepared by our planning, noise and landscape experts.  Unlike the WilloWind submission, these reports are accurate, detailed, and extremely encouraging!

However – we only have 3 days left so please use them wisely.  If you haven’t already, make sure all those friends, family, neighbours, or workmates who have expressed concern about our plight have an opportunity to have their say..

  • Those people further afield can sign the template letter and submit it directly.
  • More postcards can still be obtained from The Buck or printed online.
  • More details on how to object can be found here.
  • If you have any signed forms or letters to return, please hand them into The Buck before Monday 11th November.

Don’t underestimate how crucial these last few days are – be assured we have the arguments – but we need to make sure the numbers reflect the strength of feeling against this Windfarm.  Lets pull together for this last stretch and kick this ridiculous planning application straight back to those greedy investors in London and Switzerland and show them we mean business!