Wind factories

I know that the term “wind farm” will stick because it is short, but it is a good example of spin (appropriately). A wind “farm” has a reassuring rustic image – sheep baaing, lambs leaping, cattle mooing, lusty, bucolic labourers pursuing rosy-cheeked, coquettish milkmaids…

Surely a collection of three or more wind turbines should be designated a wind factory – for instance, the monstrosity visible from Perth to Aberfoyle at the Braes of Doune, which is audible from Ben Vorlich.

I was delighted to read in The Scotsman (31 July) that the SNP government refused the proposed wind factory in the Cairngorm area at Allt Duine because “the proposal would have a significant and unacceptable landscape and visual impact in the local areas, including the Cairngorms National Park”.

Is it too much to hope that the same criterion will be applied to other proposals, often with deliberately innocent-sounding Gaelic names, in Glen Isla, Rannoch, the Loch of the Lowes, etc?

When will the SNP have the courage to admit that its energy policy is a disaster, as people better qualified than I have pointed out? Why should we allow the destruction of our scenery for the benefit of foreign investors and greedy land-owners?

I’m glad David Cameron is 
removing the subsidies early – it can’t be soon enough as far as I’m concerned.

When can we start removing unsightly wind factories, and who will pay for this?

Jack Greenway

The Esplanade

Broughty Ferry