A majority of residents in Ardrishaig, Inverneill and Brenfield appear to be against plans for a large wind farm bordering the communities, writes Rita Campbell.
That is the feeling following a second public meeting organised by Ardrishaig Community Council to discuss the plans.
Low Carbon energy company is seeking responses to its proposal for 17 turbines, standing 220 metres tall, on land at High Brenfield.
Details were presented to the community at the end of last month, with a community council meeting held on the same day.
A second meeting to discuss the proposals was held by the community council on Wednesday December 13.
At this stage the community council is not forming an opinion for or against High Brenfield; it is looking to answer any questions and form a response to Low Carbon’s scoping exercise by January 12.
But people in Inverneill, the closest community to the wind farm, are so concerned that they have formed a residents’ group to object.
If approved, the wind farm would be one-and-a-half miles from Ardrishaig and less than a mile from Inverneill and Brenfield.
Ardrishaig Community Council plans to hold another meeting on January 3 prior to completing its response to the scoping exercise by January 12.
Gillian Hogarth of the community council said last week’s meeting was well attended, particularly by people from Inverneill.
She said: “The general feeling appeared to be Argyll and Bute was already stuffed full of wind farms.”
Low Carbon shared with the community council answers it received to questions asked of people who attended its public exhibition.
Asked if they are supportive of electricity generation from renewable power, 35 people answered “yes,” while five said “no.”
And 28 people thought wind power was a good method of power generation, nine weren’t sure, while two said “no”.
A total of 14 people answered “yes” when asked if they were interested in shared ownership of the wind farm. Meanwhile 10 said “no” and 15 weren’t sure.
Were the exhibition materials informative? “Yes,” said 24 people, “no,” said eight and seven weren’t sure.
Asked if they got all the information they were interested in, “yes” said 17, 16 said “no” and six weren’t sure.
The number of people who said “yes” when asked if they were supportive of the wind farm plans presented by Low Carban was 11. Meanwhile 13 people were not supportive and 15 weren’t sure.
Ms Hogarth said: “People are generally supportive of renewable energy. They are questioning whether Argyll and Bute hasn’t already done its share.
“There’s a feeling that if there was a concrete return in terms of low energy costs, that would be something that would get a bit more support.
“Based on a show of hands, we had the majority against these proposals as tabled.”
She added that objections were based around the scale of the wind farm and its proximity to houses.
Concerns and questions have been also raised surrounding noise, the impact on a public reservoir from disturbing peat ground, and pressure on the rental housing market during the construction period.
Ms Hogarth said: “We will keep talking to the community.”
Low Carbon intends to apply to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit for permission by the end of next winter.