Readers have been outraged this week as they learn of proposals to install almost 115,000 solar panels on the majority of fields Auchentibber and Calderside near Blantyre. A MEGA solar array farm stretching from the upper calder down to the EK Expressway, will directly infringe upon the vibrant history of the area, create controversy around aesthetics, impede and disturb wildlife and cover most of the upper beautiful existing green corridor between East Kilbride and Blantyre.
Covering 117 acres, just over half the size of Blantyre itself, it would be one of the largest solar farms in Scotland, with no notified reduction in residential electricity bills in the immediate area.
A screening opinion letter from the Scottish Government states the solar farm will likely be smaller following pre-application advice. In the letter, the government adds that the “potential visual impacts are not considered to be significant” and that “there are no likely significant effects on biodiversity, landscape, cultural heritage, or material assets”, an incredulous statement which could not be further from the truth on all topics.
Blantyre Telegraph finds itself now aligned with the majority of our readers in opposing this obscene development which is clearly going to mark our green countryside so badly and provide no benefit to anybody living nearby. Our decision is also based on the blatant destruction of heritage and biodiversity and following the comments left on our article earlier this week. We are also weighing up options and will be co-joining with established community groups if campaigns are ever needed on or offline….. if these proposals ever make it anywhere near an actual planning stage.
Blantyre Community Council are meeting tomorrow evening (Wednesday) at June Stewart Hall, High Blantyre to discuss this and another array planned for the Blantyre area. All public welcome to attend.
Meantime, a live online event regarding the larger proposal is to be hosted from 4pm to 7pm tomorrow on Wednesday, April 23rd. You can log in from the comfort of your own home to hear the agent’s plans, though it is not understood yet if there will be questions and answers sessions.
For more information and the Presentation Link for tomorrow…..see the agent’s page here.
(though it’s noted at 4pm many people will still be at work!)
More information can be downloaded from an available Factsheet in pdf format here.
It “appears” the timing of the news release, short notice of the presentation, time of the presentation, obscurity of presentation format and some “screening opinion” by an unnamed Scottish Government bureaucrat without local input S-C-R-E-A-M-S of a rigged project.
There are folks trying to bully this through folks and that does include government officials, local or otherwise.
Graft at it’s best. Lots of folks to get rich at the community’s expense.
Show these con artists a Blantyre boot up the jacksy!
Hi Archie and all,
Indeed, a matter of days notice over a public holiday for a public consultation that lasts a few hours and during working hours. And consists of typed questions and answers during which the representative gives only the vaguest of replies to be explored further ‘in due course’. Standard fare in these situations.
Get publicity and get public figures onside. Ask hard questions, pin them down to facts. The local community must be engaged. Don’t be worn down by obfuscation and prevarication.
Scotland in 2022 produced more renewable energy than it could consume. Any surplus is put on the grid and sold to England and Wales. There is no benefit to the locality or the local community, only detrimental outcomes, through loss of amenity.
People love the area, love their home. Developers are in it for money.
Looking at these proposals, I was surprised to see that this seems to be 1 of 3 in the local area. 1 between EK and Blantyre, one near Priory Bridge and another at Gilbertfield. I am happy to be corrected