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Our main focus at the moment is to try and stop the proposed Wind Farm development at Spurlens Rig, near Leadburn. We feel that this site is simply not suitable for Industrial Wind Turbines due to their inherant visual impact, noise pollution and environmental disturbance and destruction.

Why we object to Industrial Wind Turbines at this site.

Visual Impact


The Wind Turbines proposed for this site are twice as high as the Scott Monument in Edinburgh and the Soutra Hill Turbines. They will tower over the Moorfoot Hills and will be visible as far away as Kirkcaldy in Fife!



Butterflies and Moths
This report from the Peebleshire Moth Recorder... "I had a nose round the site a couple of weeks ago and found a lot of interesting butterflies and moths in my capacity as Peeblesshire Moth Recorder, a summary of which I have provided below. Some of these are uncommon/rare in the Borders and I will be advising SNH/SBC/Butterfly Conservation of their presence on the site in due course. 27/07/08 - I followed a route up the side of the forestry plantation (NT2558 5514 to NT2539 5451) and made the following count: Ringlet - 100s Small Heath - 50+ Meadow Brown - 20+ Common Blue - 20+ Large Heath - 4 Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary - 16 Dark Green Fritillary - 3 Six Spot Burnet - 6 I also recorded a solitary Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary at NT2463 5459 to the west - I would imagine that this would probably an indicator of a second meta-population. All four of the latter are uncommon in this part of the world. On Mount Lothian Moss to the north I recorded the following in a very quick wander: Large heath - 11 Wood Tiger - 1 Red Necked Footman - 2 (probably coming off the forestry plantation)"



Birds
There are a large number of birds present at Spurlens Rig that appear on both of the RSPB lists of conservation concern as published in their study. Birds Of Conservation Concern 2002–2007, THE POPULATION STATUS OF BIRDS IN THE UK Birds recorded at Spurlens Rig that are on the endangered lists are listed below. Red List Hen Harrier Skylark House Sparrow Amber List Pink-Footed Goose Greylag Goose Kestrel Oystercatcher Lapwing Snipe Curlew Barn Owl Short-Eared Owl Green Woodpecker Swallow Dunnock Fieldfare Most of these birds aren't even mentioned in the Scoping Report, in fact the report states that there is no evidence of Short Eared Owls on the site and then goes on to mention a dead one was found. Anyone visiting the site last summer at dusk would have seen and heard Short Eared Owls displaying most evenings for a number of weeks.

As you can see from the above reports this site is a valuable wildlife resource and should be protected and not destroyed!



Residents Amenity
The site is also far too close to a number of homes. Large Wind Turbines don't make good neighbours, due to the incessant noise and problems with shadow flicker, a number of independent studies from around the world now recognise this. The consensus view from these independent reports is that the distance from Turbines to houses should be at least 2km. At Spurlens Rig the nearest house will be only 1km away at most. The developer has also stated that the position of the turbines WILL change and that they may well increase in height and number! If this proposal goes ahead local residents amenity and quality of life will be seriously affected.



Safety Issues
A well-publicized rotor blade break in April 2005 at nearby Crystal Rig windfarm showered lethal debris at high speed over hundreds of feet. There are other dangers such as the possibility of ice throw from rotor blades and indeed there is a warning notice at the Crystal Rig site to this effect. How can this be safe for local residents at Kingside Farm?


The Scoping Report suggests that the visibility of the Turbines is contained within a small area. However, this is utter nonsense. The Turbines will be seen from large parts of Midlothian, including parts of Edinburgh, East Lothian and even from sea level in Fife! The sheer size of the Turbines destroys the developers claim of visual containment. *Spurlens Rig Scoping Report* "The ZTV demonstrates that visibility of the wind cluster is very limited, being restricted to a band that runs from the north-east to the central part of the study area, just south of the site. Elsewhere in the study area visibility is extremely limited, with views of the wind cluster restricted to sporadic high points. This pattern of visibility is due to the location of the site between the Pentland Hills to the north-west, the Southern Uplands to the south, and the Moorfoot Hills and Lammermuir Hills to the south-east and east. As can be seen in Figure 4 these hill ranges provide strong visual enclosure that almost completely, precludes any more distant visibility."


www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap Image produced from Ordnance Survey's Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.