Picnic protest against Viking windfarm
Protesters held a picnic in Upper Kergord on Friday to show their concerns over Viking Energy’s windfarm.
Over 50 folk turned up in the morning and had a picnic next to the site of an access road, which is being built for a large substation linked to the development.
Ofgem’s final approval of the interconnector last week paved the way for this converter station and SSE Renewables’ £580 million 103 turbine scheme.
Placards on show included “Where was our voice”, “Nature not money” and “Wir hills are wir lungs”.
Tour guide Laurie Goodlad, who was there with her family, said: “We are really not happy with what’s going on here.”
She added: “We just want to have a picnic in an area of outstanding beauty.”
The scale of the project and lack of community benefit were some of the concerns raised by folk at the picnic.
One picnicker said the “the damage is done”, adding that the windfarm was “simply too big”.
Local construction firm Tulloch Developments, who have been contracted to build the access track, were on-site at the time and police were also present.
John Irvine
Anyone who was or still is in favour of this project obviously has no caring for our wonderful, unique, beautiful islands and wildlife.
Put simply this will be an environmental disaster and for our islands and people to be exploited in this way is unforgivable.
Elaine Falconer
A catastrophic disaster for Shetland. Our Island will become one massive offshore windfarm causing the residents to move away and the natural beauty and wildlife to be destroyed forever. All under the guise of so called green energy and greed.