Whitelee windfarm specialists to address public meeting in Shetland

Two of the specialists involved in building Europe’s largest onshore windfarm at Whitelee near Glasgow will be speaking at a public meeting in Shetland next week.

Project manager Tony Windle and environment manager Alan Chesney of Morrison Construction, the firm that build Whitelee for ScottishPower, will answer questions local people may have about environmental, engineering and other aspects of how large windfarms are built.

The meeting, organised by Shetland’s newly established pro-windfarm group, Windfarm Supporters, will be at the Sound Hall on Tuesday 3rd November at 7pm.

A spokesman for Windfarm Supporters said the pair would talk about the problems they faced and answer questions about how the windfarm was built and the measures taken to protect wildlife and the environment – such as tackling the problems of deep peat, building roads, protecting birds, wildlife or water sources and other engineering issues.

The spokesman said the meeting was open to everyone, whether they supported, opposed or were undecided about the Viking Energy project.

Since Windfarm Supporters started, the spokesman said, it has been pressing Viking Energy to improve its public relations and information to the local community. In particular the group has asked Viking Energy to provide professional expert speakers who can answer islanders’ questions – rather than always using company representatives.

“The lead environmental consultant for Viking Energy, Peter Cosgrove, has already held a very productive meeting with group supporters, but unfortunately it was not possible to organise a public meeting.

“We hope next week’s meeting will be the first of several public meetings where people can question independent professional experts about windfarms or the Viking Energy proposals. We have asked Viking Energy to provide a speaker on peat and hope Dr Cosgrove will also speak on the environmental and habitat work he and his colleagues have undertaken in Shetland. The meetings will allow people to find out the facts from people with direct professional experience.”