SCOTLAND is home to almost half the UK’s wind turbines – and more than one in four of these are in the north and north-east.
Highland campaigners have reacted angrily to figures released yesterday showing the region is bearing the brunt of the controversial schemes.
Of the 4,350 turbines in operation across Britain, 2,315 are north of the border.
More than 15% of them – 367 – are in Highland, with almost 200 more either under construction or granted planning permission.
Orkney and Shetland have 34 and five apiece, with plans for 15 and 11 respectively. The Western Isles have 17 turbines now, 42 under construction and 72 planned.
A Scottish Government spokesman insisted the figures were a reflection of “Scotland’s vast green energy potential” and said turbines were bringing thousands of jobs and prosperity.
However, opponents said the statistics illustrated why people felt “under siege and attacked” by developers.
Highland anti-wind campaigner Lyndsey Ward, of Kiltarlity, said: “The government says windfarms are only approved in appropriate locations but there are none left and it will be a case of destroying more wild land or building them closer to people’s homes.”
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