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Over the past 12 months npower renewables has been examining the feasibility of building and operating a wind farm at a site known as Middleton which is 5.5 km southwest of Newton Mearns in East Renfrewshire.

On February 21st 2008, a planning application submitted by npower renewables for the wind farm was registered by East Renfrewshire Council. To make your thoughts on the proposed wind farm known, you should write, quoting planning application reference number 2008/0096/TP together with your name and address to:

The Planning Officer
East Refrewshire Council
Eastwood Park
Rouken Glen Road
Giffnock, G46 6UG

In the meantime, a non-technical summary (NTS) of the Environmental Statement can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page.

Copies of the full Environmental Statement can be viewed at the following locations:

• East Renfrewshire Council Offices, Giffnock
• Mearns Library, MacKinley Place (adjacent to the Avenue Shopping Centre)
• Neilston Library, Main Street, Neilston

Following a wide range of studies and feedback from public consultation, the design of the wind farm has been set at 6 turbines, each with a maximum height to blade tip of 105 metres. At this size, the project would have an installed capacity of approximately 15 megawatts (MW), producing enough green electricity to meet the average electricity demand of up to 8,400 homes.

The scheme would also prevent the release of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide, making a valuable contribution to the overall goal of reducing green house gas emissions from the production of electricity.

The Middleton site is located on grazed pasture and is within East Refrewshire's area for Renewables Energy (Replacement Local Plan policy E15 which states that:

"The council will generally support renewable energy proposals….provided it can be demonstrated that the environmental impacts of such proposals can be mitigated."

In addition to this, the site also benefits from:

• High wind speeds, ensuring high productivity and electrical output
• Low ornithological interest on the immediate area
• Good access to the electricity grid
• Good road access for construction purposes; and
• The turbines could co-exist with current land use practices to support farm diversification.

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