Devil's Advocate

The purpose of this blog and Facebook Page isn't to tell the Community of Kippen what we should do - it's to offer suggestions and create a Forum for the Community to discuss Wind Turbines and Green Energy.

For my part, I will play Devil's Advocate.  I can see the benefits of Wind Turbines - cheap, clean, renewable energy.   However I can also see the need to have tight regulations on them - something that is lacking as Councils and Governments continue to forge ahead to meet targets.

The larger the Turbines, the more intrusive they are on the beauty of the countryside not to mention the Noise Pollution and potential dangers to wildlife.

The only thing I am postive about is that no Large Electricity Companies should be allowed to install Wind Turbines in our Community.

I will propose ideas and suggestions to the Forum so this this can be discussed openly by all members of the Community.  If anyone else has suggestions, they can be E-mailed to me and I will post these suggestions so that they may be discussed also.

The blog will be a reference point - an area for information on ideas and suggestions; an area to ask questions for discussion.

The Facebook Page will be an interactive area to allow free and open discussion - with regular questions and reference to the blog.  In fact, two members of the same family have already started to discus their opposing views.

So, what can you do?

Whether you are for or against Wind Turbines, you should have your say.  After only one post on my blog I had 50 Pageviews and Currently 25 likes on the Facebook Page.  If we are going to discuss this, we need as many members of the Community involved as possible.

Can you therefore please share this blog and the Facebook Page with other Kippenites to raise awareness? 

Ways to help -

• On each post is an option to share via Facebook
• On each post is an option to +1 on Google
• There is an option to Tweet about the post
• On the bottom right of the Home page there is an option to subscribe via e-mail
• On the bottom left and top of the Home page there are options to +1 on Google

Please do what you can to share this.  It's our Community; have your say!

Thank you,

Scott

Background

Kippen is a scenic village in the Stirlingshire Countryside.  

Love them or loathe them, Wind Turbines are becoming an increasingly common sight in Scotland's Countryside. including the Wind Farm near Doune.

I think that they do have their place, but I also think there need to be some strict rules regarding them.  Firstly, that the residents of areas where they are being put up should not only be able to have a voice in their locations, numbers and sizes - but mostly that the local residents are the ones to benefit from them - and not greedy Electricity Companies.

So, that is what this blog and Facebook Page are all about - a forum to discuss the matter before it is too late!

The question I'm asking is, should the community of Kippen embrace wind energy and set up our own Kippen Energy Co-Operative?  In doing so, we can decide how many turbines there will be.  We will have a direct say in their location and size so that they do not adversely impact the natural beauty of our surroundings.

We can also benefit from Government Grants and the revenue generated from our own project and plough this back into our community.

Two things are certain - the cost of Electricity will only rise and if we don't consider the options of Wind Turbines now, it won't be long until some Multinational Electricity Company takes an interest and forces them upon us.

Even if the decision of the village is to NOT build Wind Turbines, we would be in a better place to block others from doing so in the future if we start looking into it now.

Thank you for taking a look.

Scott.