Cambuslang residents hit out at plans for a wind turbine near their secluded homes 

Plans to erect a wind turbine in Cambuslang have been slammed by residents living near the proposed site.

Last month, the Reformer revealed a proposal has been put forward by the Healthy ‘n’ Happy Community Development Trust, with the intention of it raising money for the benefit of the community.

But residents living near the site, at the Loanend Cottages near Flemington Farm, say the proposed wind turbine, would disrupt their way of life.

All bar one of the residents in the cottages, as well as the nearby Flemington Farm cottages, are united in their opposition to the proposal, and two residents, Gordon Brownlie and Liisa Hepworth, speaking on behalf of the others, met with the Reformer on Monday.

Liisa said: “We were slightly surprised when we read in the Reformer that Healthy ‘n’ Happy were saying the turbine would be unobtrusive and not visible, as it clearly will be, based on their plans. It will be 550m away from us.

“It’s very clearly going to be seen, not only by us, but by people in Uddingston, Blantyre and Halfway. It’s not going to be as big as the one in Cathkin Braes, but it is still pretty significant.

“Healthy ‘n’ Happy and Green Cat Renewables put on a display in Halfway Library, and we were quite shocked by the scale of it.

“It seems there’s very little regulation around the building of wind turbines.”

Gordon pointed out: “I don’t think Healthy ‘n’ Happy are aware this is a conservation area, as, under the old Glasgow City Council, it was identified as a conservation village.

“There are certain things we can’t do, because all the cottages must look very similar, and we can’t go making changes.

“It seems very strange that someone now wants to go and put something into a conservation area.”

Liisa also said: “This is a greenbelt area and by putting up a wind turbine, that would be an industrial use that’s being proposed.

“This area has historical significance, with several historic buildings nearby. It’s a special landscape area, with woodlands, and it’s also used for leisure activities with cyclists and walkers, and the Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers as well.

“There’s also a lot of wildlife in the area, as we’ve got three pairs of buzzards, kestrels and red kites, while we also have many migratory birds, such as swallows, while we also have big badger sets, foxes and bats.

“Wind turbines were responsible for killing more birds in 2014 than through human persecution.”

The residents also fear that the erection of one turbine could lead to more, and ultimately, a windfarm would be on their doorstep before they know it.

They also say that the existing access road would be overused by large vehicles, and would require a significantly larger number of journeys than Healthy ‘n’ Happy are predicting, especially on a 5m wide road.

Residents also worry about noise pollution.

Liisa said: “Healthy ‘n’ Happy do great work in the area, and they say they want to improve the health and wellbeing of the community.

“We are worried about the sound this will make, and there’s also the unseen factor of infrasound, and there’s well-researched reports about physical and mental wellbeing which can be disrupted by wind turbines.”

Gordon added: “It wouldn’t lead to the improvement of our health and wellbeing, as it would be to our detriment, and we’re genuinely concerned.”

The wind turbine proposal is due to be discussed by Halfway Community Council at their meeting tonight (Wednesday), in Park View School at 7pm.

Gordon said: “We’ve very supportive of the work that Healthy ‘n’ Happy do as a charity, with some great work in Rutherglen and Cambuslang over the years. We appreciate they are trying to create new income sources, but this is not the right one.’’