Developers put the wind up community

In 2011, the Newton Mearns farm was subject to a proposal for a Lifetime Recycling Village; Europe’s largest waste incinerator.

Now plans to erect 66 15-metre high vertical tower wind turbines and transformer compound have been submitted to East Renfrewshire council for consideration.

Campaigner Harry Stewart, of the Loganswell Residents Association, is ready to start the fight all over again.

He told The Extra: “No environmental assessment is being done by the council. They are treating this as if it’s a garden shed.

“We have to object to it as this is the thin edge of the wedge. They are proposing something which is not new and not innovative. It’s old technology which does not work.

“I fear if this goes through the incinerator proposal will come back.”

Councillor Gordon Wallace has called on the community to act.

He told The Extra: “Sufficient objections and local councillor intervention should ensure that this development comes before the planning application committee.

“This is the very least residents will expect given the extent of this proposed development and the fact that the turbine design is an ‘unknown’.

“An even greater concern to many will be whether this development, if allowed to go ahead, is simply a precursor to re-submission of the original LRV development.”

An East Renfrewshire council spokeswoman confirmed a decision is expected in a few months time.