'Back off' the Dryfe Valley - say residents

‘ANGER, disgust and bewilderment’ were the words used by Sibbaldbie residents to describe their feelings after official plans for the Balgray Windfarm were submitted to the Scottish Government.

David and Ann Barron, along with their fellow residents, have been fighting to keep windfarms out of the Dryfe Valley for over 15 years.

The latest application comes from Fred Olsen Renewables, and proposes six 200 metre turbines being constructed in the hills behind the village, with a generating capacity of 43 megawatts. The application also includes a 43 megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) and an on-site substation and other infrastructure.

According to the proposed lay out, one of the new turbines would be about two kilometres from the Barron’s home on top of a hill.

This week Ann said: “When one of the people from Fred Olsen came to the door to talk about the Balgray windfarm I just burst into tears. I can’t cope with this, I don’t want turbines.”

David added: “This is the third attempt for a windfarm on the very same site, the first two were whole-heartedly rejected by Dumfries and Galloway Council 15 years ago, who called it an ‘inappropriate location’.

“Eventually, after three years and a public enquiry at Lockerbie Town Hall, the Scottish Government’s reporter concluded that it shouldn’t go ahead because it would have too much of a negative effect on the valley.

“And we thought that was the end, but we were wrong.”

Now the fight has started all over again with a Save the Dryfe Valley campaign.

And the Barrons are not alone in their frustration: Paul and Chris Openshaw have lived in Sibbaldbie for 19 years and believe the windfarm construction could increase the risk of flooding in the village. They said: “If the village floods again, once the turbines are built it’ll be much worse than it was in 2005 with all the concrete going in the ground near the burn and loch and replacing the soil.

“When we asked the Fred Olsen people about it they said they could try to divert the water, but where is it going to go?

“Nothing about the valley has changed in the last 15 years so the same reasons for the others not going ahead are still there, so they need to back off.”

The deadline for objections to the new scheme is fast approaching, on September 26, so David, Ann, Chris and Paul are calling on residents and the surrounding community councils to join them and make their feelings known.

Dumfriesshire constituency MSP Oliver Mundell plans to join local residents in objecting to the proposed windfarm development, he said: “The proposed windfarm at Balgary is yet another unwanted development with turbines that will swamp their landscape and be seen for miles.

David Barron added: “We hoped that Fred Olsen could be persuaded to not go ahead, that was a forlorn dream. We’d given them loads of reasons why they shouldn’t do it but they are going ahead. So as of now, we need as many people as possible to submit objections.

“What it boils down to is that it will have a negative effect on the character and the landscape of the Dryfe Valley. It’s been described as an ‘intimate pastoral valley’ and we want it to stay that way.

“We are not anti-windfarm, we are anti-windfarm in the wrong place.”