[sabrina]

Are you for or against. Have to say we have a lot around Aberdeenshire and I like to look at them. We are about to get more not far from us, we have wind most days so well suited to the area. If we had the money we would put up a smaller one for our own use as the time is coming that the black outs off the 70's will happen again. Power has to come from somewhere. My best friend is so against them and at this moment in time is fighting to keep them out of her area. We do not bring up the subject anymore as I worry she will have a stroke she gets so worked up yet when they have power cuts in the winter due to weather she goes mad. My eldest son lives near a power station and its far from a pretty site but over the years you just don't notice it the same.

[Roxy]

Noticed a few planning applications for single turbines on farms .....am wondering if the farmers had been approached to have one on their land, as the farms applying were pretty near each other.  All were refused planning, probably due to National Park regs, and green belt etc.  Have seen some up on the moors, in clusters of about 15.  Personally, to me, they are not a nice thing and hardly the natural look you would expect up on the moors ......and as they were quite near to some farms, I did wonder about noise, as there was a noticeable noise when you were close to them.

There again, they are prettier to look at than the power stations, so maybe the better option  - so long as its not near where I live that is

[Sandy]

I have mixed feelings, sometimes they can look elegant but the nice open spaces certainly look better without them but opposed to a power plant, much much better to look at BU..not sure if they are that cost effective re the energy they produce and cost to maintain and build, apparently they do not last tool long so have to be replaced, thats an energy cost in itself..I am no scientist so cannot comment but still think burning fostel fuel   if cleaned (carbon capture) is better. I def do not like the idea of Nuclear energy...again, not a scientist so not too sure but I would rather live near a coal power station than a Nuclear one...hang on...I do

[goosepimple]

Its unfortunate that in the Scottish Borders here we are getting so that you can't go on a 20min journey in any direction without coming across a mass of them.  I think the problem is that they are put in groups - it would be much nicer if everyone could have a personal one on their house - much the same as a chimney pot - becoming part of a new architectural domestic language.  On mass though it does seem almost an old fashioned idea - like a mass of electricity pylons - underground or out at sea is a better idea for technology, or keep it domestic scale.

[Fleecewife]

We have groups of them in every direction and some going up in ones and twos very close.  Yes, the companies come and approach landowners and when one goes up they drop in on everyone else in the area, hoping someone else will get on the bandwagon.  Planning is easy to get for them here.  I think they are wonderfully elegant things, huge and magnificent, but then I love technology.  I also wouldn't want them right on my doorstep and am not too happy about the ones which they are just building half a mile away right between me and a beautiful view.  It will be interesting to see how long they last and how well they stand up to the weather.  So I have mixed feelings about them too.  One plus point is that once they go back out of fashion they will not be leaving huge scars on the landscape.

[lill]

I'm not surprised that there is a lot of people jumping on the band waggon, for every big wind turbine on there land they get £100.000 per turbine for 20 years. Now people with 5 turbines getting half a million quid a year for 20 years won't need to bother going to work again.

[AengusOg]

I like them. I think they are a sign of a progressive outlook. My FIL hates them and is always spouting off negatively about them, but the power of the future will have to come from somewhere. I wouldn't like to see any more nuclear power generated in Scotland.

The sighting of them off-shore has its problems, though. Proposals to erect a wind farm off Arbroath worried the lobster fishermen. The turbines would have been erected on a rocky 'reef' which happened to be the area where the lobsters live and breed. There was to be a fifty metre restriction around each turbine, and boats could not operate within that distance. The turbines were to be placed 100 metres apart. That meant that the lobster fishers would be unable to work.

[robert waddell]

this is a difficult one depends on what side you are on        these big wind farms and there equally big turbines (the hub can weigh up to 50 tons) are sited on forrestry commission land the FC gets up to £100,000 rent per year over the lifetime of the turbine(25 yrs)  there was a plan to install 23 of them not to far from here  now thats 2.3 million per year with a sweetener to the local comunity  of £56 ,000  over the lifetime of the project
to me that equates to a bag of sweeties given to a child to shut them up(it works out near enough as 0.0001%)
they had a public display of there intentions attended by people outwith the village but directly affected with the plan  well groomed yes people were in attendance with highly polished answers to a few questions               now 18 months before this public meeting the FC spent nearly a million putting the access road in for this development  400 tons of blaes per day x 5 days per week x3-4 months capped of  with stone (motorways don't have that engineering) this FC road is the main access for the turbines hubs blades and columns comming on site
asked about this  NO COMMENT   this plan was sited in stirlingshire and the site butting onto west lothian (west lothian have designated the area a site of great natural beauty) asked about this NO COMMENT  who is the preferred contractor NO COMMENT how were they going to police the access routes(as they had designated) NO COMMENT had they done there tests on wind noise NO COMMENT was it going to be local contractors and employees NO COMMENT      there were forms to fill in if you thought wind power was good  they then sent your form (if you daft enough to fill it in)to the local planners as a support to there planning
now the cost of all this wind power               nuclear power is sold for approx 5 pence per unit or cheaper it may not be the safest or the most pretty of constructions           but compared to wind power that is sold for 25 pence per unit and is not available 24/7 is a lot cheaper(just recently some wind farms were paid not to produce electricity as there was to much in the grid)  yes oil and gas is going to run out the same as fish was going to run out in the early sixty's     it cost,s oil to mine the iron ore ship it to India electricity to smelt the ore or high grade scrap metal more oil to transport the finished turbine to where ever and more oil to transport the turbine to the site   also oil to fuel the machines that are prepping the site energy to produce the concrete  more energy to produce the re-bar for the base  etc etc etc
so if you are lucky to have a big turbine on your land yes your in the money   to bad for all the others that have to pay for it   wind power is not the saviour that it is claiming  and small turbines at the side of your house cant boil a kettle
the braes of doune site when we can see it is a blot on the landscape but you do get used to it as is true for all the turbine sites
in the end electricity is a commodity  and it comes down to your individual choice if you support it or oppose it irrespective somebody will be making money on its back
 if you agree or not with what i have written it will not upset me after all it is a public open forum and my input is just as relevent as others

[AengusOg]

Is that you Brian??

[doganjo]

I'm not surprised that there is a lot of people jumping on the band waggon, for every big wind turbine on there land they get £100.000 per turbine for 20 years. Now people with 5 turbines getting half a million quid a year for 20 years won't need to bother going to work again.

Where on earth do you get those figures?  My friend is about to install one at a cost of £80,000 - she will receive free electricity and £5000 a year - so it will take about 16 years to pay off the original cost, only then she will be in profit, providing it lasts the 25 years they forecast.  The Governemebt have guaranteed the 'producer' element for a 25 year period so that may not continue after that.  She lives on a farm, on top of a windy hill, so it is ideal for her.  Personally I would be delighted if many more of these were put up all over the country, and also water power developed, instead of a nuclear power station which produces rods that stay live for thousands of years after they are buried, and the cost of storing them relatively safely adds to the cost of the elcetricity the power station produces.
As an aside, many wind turbines are painted white, grey, or black.  They can actually be ANY colour you want, so they could be painted to blend into the countryside - or if you are a member of the SNP either tartan or blue and white 

[Hopewell]

I can see 4 coal fired power stations from my home, or at least the plumes of smoke and water vapour. I'd far rather see wind turbines instead.

[doganjo]

I can see 4 coal fired power stations from my home, or at least the plumes of smoke and water vapour. I'd far rather see wind turbines instead.

I see, and hear, 4 coal trains a day, 23 carriages long, 100 tons of coal in each carriage, and another 4 through the night, trundling past my bedroom window on teh way to a coal fired power station.  I'd rather see a wind turbine on every house in the village!

[Sylvia]

I like them, they look like giant dancers! They may not be as efficient as nuclear power plants but I would rather use less electricity AND pay more for it. As to being paid all that money to have one on your land----bring them on!! I could grow my runner beans up them

[robert waddell]

annie the figures      are from the turbine company's that were advertising for suitable sites       they only quoted the prices for a short time that was for the largest turbine available    your friend is only likely to have a small one in comparison      is your friend buying the turbine (there are different schemes)    the guaranteed income is the FIT feed in tariff  what the taxpayer pays for        you are forgetting yellow ones
there will be some that will prefer the trains passing by houses rather than windmills going up
the water powered generation has the same argument those that want it and those that want the natural beauty

[doganjo]

annie the figures      are from the turbine company's that were advertising for suitable sites       they only quoted the prices for a short time that was for the largest turbine available    your friend is only likely to have a small one in comparison      is your friend buying the turbine (there are different schemes)    the guaranteed income is the FIT feed in tariff  what the taxpayer pays for        you are forgetting yellow ones
there will be some that will prefer the trains passing by houses rather than windmills going up
the water powered generation has the same argument those that want it and those that want the natural beauty

Either way the quoted figures are rarely what actually happenes, and either way I'd rather have any non invasive scheme than a nuclear reactor.