Call for end to Scottish mountain wind farms

Published on 16/06/2012 00:00

Scotland’s Munros and Corbetts must be protected from wind farms, according to the country’s leading mountaineering organisation.

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland yesterday launched a “Manifesto on Onshore Wind Farms”, claiming: “Scotland can achieve its aims for renewable energy without industrialising our most important mountains.”

The council, which represents more than 11,000 hillwalkers and climbers, is calling for a moratorium on commercial wind farms which encroach on the country’s highest peaks: Munros, over 3,000ft, and Corbetts, between 2,500ft and 2,999ft.

Ron Payne, the body’s director of landscape and access, said: “The mountains and wild places of Scotland are a national asset beyond price, yet they risk being irrevocably damaged.”