About 40 people with placards and banners pitched up outside the MacMillan Hall, where developers RES were holding their first community liaison group for the Blair Hill Wind farm scheme. – (c)2024 Fiona Reid – DNGONLINE.co.uk
ANTI windfarm campaigners braved the cold to hold a demonstration in Newton Stewart on Wednesday (17 January 2024) evening. About 40 people with placards and banners pitched up outside the MacMillan Hall, where developers RES were holding their first community liaison group for the Blair Hill Wind Farm scheme.
The passionate opponents had even composed a special anti turbine song for the occasion, which was periodically sung with gusto.
Organiser Kenny Campbell, of the Hands Off Our Hills group, described it as “an effective protest”.
He said yesterday:
“An enormous heartfelt thanks to all those hardy souls who turned out in seriously freezing conditions to demonstrate outside the RES so-called ‘Community Liaison Group’“.
Mr Campbell had declined an invitation to be part of the liaison group, which he has described as a “charade” and “a process completely weighted in favour of the company, landowners and other ‘interested parties’“.
He added: “The demonstration was respectful but clear regarding our message, no doors were blocked but we let people know we won’t allow this devastation to happen.”
Launching the community liaison RES Group, said “it was intended to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of information, as well as to create an effective channel of communication between RES, the local community and stakeholders”.
The agenda for this week’s inaugural meeting included a project update and question and answer sessions.
The Blair Hill scheme is proposing 22 turbines at a site six kilometres north of Newton Stewart.
