HELP? Proposed wind turbines and ospreys - not a good mix?

Hi all,

I'll be honest, my knowledge of feathers is limited!  I can tell a peacock from a magpie, and a buzzard from an owl but I'm no expert, although I am very fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful friends who keep me company in the garden and around the croft.

I count amongst my friends:

"the odd couple" - a buzzard and a crow (? large black bird) who used to be part of a family with the buzzards parents a couple of years ago.  I still marvel that they're together and haven't grown apart with age.

Oystercatchers - which have nested in the fields with my horses for the past 3 years.

A short eared owl - which I frequently see sitting on a fence post near my home in the middle of the afternoon, and was lucky enough to have hunting in my hay field not 50m from me as I hand weeded the crop of a few dock plants last summer.

Barn owls and cuckoos - which I hear at night throughout the summer and autumn.

Ospreys, which nest who knows where? - If you find out you have to keep it secret!  Probably the local fishery which created an osprey nest and has filmed the chicks for the past couple of years (although other neighbours tell me that they too have ospreys nesting in the vicinity so maybe it's not just the ones from the fishery who visit my neighbour's ponds).

Geese −10s, 100s, sometimes 1000s of them smother the farmers fields next to me in the autumn and winter.  What a sight!

Swallows and starlings with their fabulous displays that far outperform the red devils or fireworks for me.

A couple of magpies that I love to watch stripping the pine cones using holes in my fir tree and sticks sometimes too;

woodpeckers (a family of 3) - I think maybe they help the magpies by drilling holes in the tree, but was quite concerned when the youngster took to attempting to drill the concrete water tower at the back of the house last year...there are woodlice in the door there, but I figured the young birds beak would not be a match for the concrete as he didn't seem to realise his parents were working the door... I guess that's teenagers for you, they never really listen do they?!

skylarks and lapwings; singing while I work in the garden.

chaffinch - by the dozen; and a variety of tits - who seem to appreciate the newly filled seed feeders... I swear they cost me more in feed than the horses sometimes!

...And I can't forget my personal pet robin... although I think actually, I'm probably his personal pet worm digger... he's there every Sunday morning waiting for me in the garden and helping me turn the earth.  I think he's a distant cousin of the (now departed I fear) black pheasant with the green ring around his neck who used to knock on my kitchen window at 8.12 precisely each morning for a handful of barley for breakfast.  I'm sure it started as a territorial fight with the window, but he quickly learned there was a reward and returned each day for a couple of years...I've not seen him for some weeks now, i guess he maybe made someone's Christmas...  I miss him!

Which brings me to the point of my post... my next door neighbour.  For 20 years he's deployed agricultural subsidies into wildlife habitat creation - riparian schemes, woodland schemes, around a dozen ponds, sand-martin nesting points, grass margins etc.  He's been very successful too, won many awards for the various initiatives.  All credit to him!

But sadly, the agricultural grants are coming to an end... and the new subsidies that are "easy money" are wind turbines.  So the planning application has gone in with no mention of a number of the species above (geese, osprey, barn owls, etc).  The Short Eared Owl got a mention - as did the Golden Plover, but were dismissed as historic documented sightings.  I guess when you limit your fieldwork to a desk bound review of historic records, most of your species will be historic documented sightings...

I've raised an objection, but it's likely to be dismissed as "nimbyism"; residents concerns generally are.  The planners consider a farm, an agricultural holding, as an acceptable site with little sensitivity based on the applicant's assessment that there is no risk to wildlife...and therefore haven't requested a full Environmental Impact Assessment.  That means there's no collision risk impact assessment, no site survey and species count; nothing.

Interestingly the wildlife map doesn't show much activity in the 200m of the turbines... it misses the ponds, the feeder barrel in a tree not 40m away, the bat activity along the stream and track that runs around the same distance.  The otters and badgers and water voles similarly go without mention.

The conclusions of the report are that the site is suitable.  Given that many species are not mentioned, and the site is described as "agricultural land" it's hardly surprising.  The person preparing the report has a financial interest in the application, and no professional designation.

But it's worse, this application is for only 2 turbines so it can't be harmful... it fails to mention the other 24 that are within a few kilometres and the further 8 that are already approved to the landscape, or the other 20 odd applications (many for clusters) that are currently under consideration.  The argument is incremental change rather than cumulative impact on the birds attempting to fly through the area, or just go about their daily business safely.  

I mention the numbers not for sympathy, but to highlight that some sites in the area are suitable for turbines, and others are not - this one, is not, based on the sensitivity of the habitat that will be destroyed.  I believe this will be obvious if a proper site assessment is conducted.  I'll also point out that I'm not the closest property to the development... that one is less than 600m from one of the turbines and the residents have no financial interest in the turbine, and every concern about the impact it will have on the roosting bats and the barn owl believed to be roosting in their old wooden barn.  

The applicant, on the other hand, cannot see the turbines from his property on the other side of the hill...

Anyone out there who is a far more credible witness than me willing to raise an objection on the grounds that a site that has won so many environmental awards should have a full environmental impact assessment conducted by a professionally qualified and competent individual?  It's a numbers game, and the tenants in the farm cottages have signed the letters of support... well they would, wouldn't they?

I realise none of you will know the site so can't raise objections based on specifics, but regardless of whether you're for or against wind energy, you'll surely agree that the planning department and Councillors should be given complete, accurate, valid, reliable and timely decision making information to determine whether or not each site is suitable for the proposed development?

Please support the wildlife in "my local habitat", I'd hate to lose the bats, and the ospreys, and the odd couple, and the wise old owl who sits on the fence and watches the world go by...

And if any of you are experts on any of the species I've mentioned, and can come up with an objection on their behalf, I'm sure they'll thank you for looking out for them.  And I'll thank you for emptying my pockets as I sink further funds into bird seed, fat balls, peanuts, fruit and worms in the coming months!

If you're willing to help, you can object online at

http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/planning/apps/detail.asp?ref_no=APP/2011/3643#representations

Click on the "submit comment for..." button near the top and fill in the online form.  It will only take a moment, but may save many lives.

And if any of you live in the area and would like to come out and see the site for yourselves, I'd be happy to host you!

PLEASE, PLEASE, take a moment to OBJECT to this development and request that complete, accurate, valid, reliable and timely information is provided by a professionally qualified environmentalist holding a designation such as CEnv, MIEEM or MIEMA.

Thank you!