Appeal for saving Isle of Tiree -Hebrides Scotland

[tireetim]

Appeal for saving Isle of Tiree- Hebrides

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Hi

This message is relevant to all who dive or plan to dive on west coast of scotland.

I am a freediver, and spearo and surfer living on Isle of Tiree in the hebrides and I am sending out an appeal to anyone who has dived off Tiree and in particular on the Skerryvore area to the west of the island.

You may not be aware but the there is a massive 500 offshore wind turbine being planned for this area. At a distance of between 5- 15 km from the island.
There are many of us on the island that dont want this to go ahead so close to the island eg it could be 50 km away and be a genuine offshore rather than inshore wind farm

The Skerryvore reef does I beleive contain cold water corals and we need evidence to stop this development.

This appeal is for anyone who has any relevant pictures and information that we could use in our campaign and or would like to get involved.

You can get in touch with me via DB or better timarkless@gmail.com.
I have also included a link to the No Tiree Array ( Officially known as the Argyll Array)
No Tiree Array | We do not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children
This will give more information

It is not that we are opposed to windfarms- we have one community owned wind turbine on the Island- but more the planned total destruction of an inhabited wilderness and important offshore area of relatively shallow water.

it should be noted that the area surrounding the Isle of Barra about 40 km away has been desginated a maritime reserve - yet the are round Tiree will be totally desecrated for benefit of shareholders in various electric companies- Iberdrola SA and Scottish Renewables UK

Thanks

 

[MartinTee]

Tireetim is this area a part of The Minch?

My parents live on the mainland and if this were to happen then it would also mean that it could happen outside their front door as they live right on the coast.

Are you fighting for it to get built further away or not at all?

I ask if it apart of The Minch because my step dad is a photographer and has a few wildlife photo's. I don't think its close enough to Tiree though, they are north of Skye.

Hopefully things work out for you.

 

[tireetim]

Hi Tiree

Is about 15 miles west and a little bit north of Mull. Tiree ( 15 miles x 4 miles poulation 700) is the most westerly of Inner Hebrides - If you head west from the west end of the island the next stoop is Nova scotia Canada

We get ferry from Oban it takes about 4 hr

We would like to have the wind farm stopped completely.

thanks for all support- we need evidence tha the Skerryvore reef should be protected.

regrds

Tim

 

[sross]

Don't know if this might help give you some ammunition:

1,500 accidents and incidents on UK wind farms - Telegraph

Blown away: gales wreck wind turbines as Scottish storm wreck havoc - Telegraph

Thinktank blasts wind power support | Business | The Guardian

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Does this picture spell doom for wind power?-

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Fears wind turbines can be health hazard

 

[tireetim]

Hi sross

thanks for links - yes we have used all these type of things .

The reason the power company want to put this 500 turbine wind farm starting only 5 km off the island is because it saves them money and they want to use the island as a stepping stone .

the other reasons is the distorted cost / value due to the uk feed in tariff

And of course we have plenty of wind and there are other areas to use offshore but not an area with a " handy" base just 5 km away.

And in the mean time they change an isolated unspoilt area into an industrial zone.

thanks for your interest.

Tim

 

[grantl]

Tim- interesting post for me. I stayed on Tiree probably around 8 years ago (Drovers cottage), and have longed to get back since. Maybe next year.

Really enjoyed the diving in crystal clear water but didn't get much in the way of fish unfortunately, however its certainly one of the more remote and spectacular areas I've dived.
Likely a controversial thing to say but I don't have a strong anti wind farm opinion and would argue they would most likely increase biodiversity and habitats as well as make an interesting dive venue .
Conversely I agree with your argument in relation to who benefits from these wind farms, particularly in isolated areas like yours where there is relatively little economic opportunity for the island and it's potentially a very fragile existence.
The wind farms are improving their efficiency and long term they are needed, however communities like yours should benefit directly from them and not co. shareholders as you state.
It's a fact they will be appearing in increasingly remote wilderness areas of Scotland but I think we should be welcoming that. The big issue is who benefits from them and at the moment the local communities are really being shafted while policy makers pander to global corps and their shareholders.