2 of 6 proposed Special Protection Areas for Golden Eagles are in Argyll
published this on 4:19 pm, Wednesday, 2nd December, 2009Community News| Environment | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham, has announced 6 sites proposed as additions to the existing 8 Special Protection Areas for Golden Eagles.
Scottish Natural Heritage is to begin a 3-month public consultation period on the proposal which would see these 6 areas, amounting to 350,000 hectares of hand, added to the raptors’ existing protection.
The areas in question are:
- Glen Affric to Strathconon
- Cairngorms Massif
- Foinavon
- Moidart & Ardgour
- Glen Etive to Glen Fyne
- Jura, Scarba and the Garvellachs
The last two of these are in today’s local authority area of Argyll and Bute; and he third from the last is in historical Argyll, on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.
This gives a sense of Argyll’s wealth in biodiversity – the richest in the UK. It also warns of problems to come with such a large swathe of its territory protected.
There are two very distinct schools of thought on the matter of the cohabitation of eagles and wind turbines.
- One – the dominant, is that held by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and this held sway in the public enquiry on the proposed wind farm at Stacain near Inveraray. The planning application for this was finally refused, although the pair of golden eagles whose territory encompassed the proposed wind farm site were elderly and had not had a chick for a decade.
- The contrary view is that there is little, if any, evidence of birds being killed or seriously disturbed by wind turbines and, as far as we understand it, this has been admitted by the relevant authorities.
Either way, with the development of renewable energy generation a national and a planetary priority, the country and the authorities need to come to a reasoned and balanced view.
Scientifically it has to be possible for the spectrum of evidence available to be subject t0 scrutiny from both sides of the argument and a defensible conclusion distilled. Without that decisions appear to be being made on little more than contemporary superstition, with credibility lost where it is most needed.
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December 2nd, 2009 at 6:25 pm
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RT @ForArgyll: [link to post] > 2 of 6 proposed Special Protection Areas for Golden Eagles are in Argyll
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December 6th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
During the Stacain public enquiry at Inveraray it was revealed that Eagles were breeding in windfarm areas especially when fallen stock was provided. The experts all agreed that eagles bred better when food was readily available, not the existence of windfarms. This is why the developers offered to clear new feeding grounds and provide fallen stock for the Eagles to help increase the eagle numbers.
It was also revealed that no Eagles have ever been killed by a windfarm and we currently have eagles in all our Argyll windfarm areas. But this development was turned down before the area was even nominated as a potential SPA. SNH has just used this European legislation to stop the development because A&B Council voted against their ill prepared objections and got the hump. The proposed SPA consultation will be nothing less than a white wash.
SNH wants all the windfarms built in concentrated areas despite the fact we have no way of getting the electricity on to the grid. The Stacain windfarm had a guaranteed grid connection. I wonder how many of For Argyll readers realise that many built windfarms are not actual connected to the grid and will have to wait years for a grid connection. This policy of building windfarms without early connection dates is stupid and serves only to con the Scottish people that the government actually cares about climate change.
There is no scientific data to support the windfarm eagle debate and no reason for these SPA’s. This is the SNP cutting a deal with the way too powerful SNH, which is out of control and without measure. SPA’s will not just prevent the building of windfarms it will affectively sterilise large chunks of Argyll. Things are tough enough in this part of the country without adding more reasons for our failure as a county. Despite their assurances, be assured you will need their very permission to blow your nose on these SPA’s. Argyll is destined to be sterile, a place for the English to drive through and take pictures and no longer a place to call home and earn a living unless it is selling film for the visitors cameras or cleaning their second holiday homes!
Spain produced 11.5GW of electricity from wind during 2009 53% of its country’s total need. So the wind thing is not imaginary, it is being done in less windier countries. The UK, the windiest place in Europe produced less than 2% of its energy needs from wind. It’s any excuse at the moment not to build windfarms, don’t like the view from my window or it could kill a very stupid eagle one day! None of this is rocket science. Scrap SNH and change the planning laws, fixed.
Would be happy to write the SNH P45’s free of charge. It is nothing short of obscene to pay good money to SNH to retard Scotland.