Isle of Skye experts dispute regular claims wind farms don't impact tourism

It has been widely reported from developers that wind farm developments, both onshore and offshore, do not significantly harm tourism activity.

Developers behind the biggest wind farm in the UK, Scottish Power Renewables, said its Whitelee development, with some 215 turbines in East Renfrewshire, actively encourages visitors to the area.

At an inquiry into Ben Aketil wind farm on Skye, Graeme Blackett, from BiGGAR Economics, who was speaking on behalf of the developers Nadara, dismissed community concerns over developments on the tourism trade.

Citing his own study on wind farms and tourism, Mr Blackett said: “There is no evidence to suggest that landscape and visual effects have an impact on tourist behaviour.

“This is something that I have done lots of research on over the years, not least because my business works in both the energy sector and the tourism sector, so we’re particularly interested in whether there’s potential conflict there.”

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He said previous inquiries into wind farms since the first were built some 30 years ago find “the answer is the same”.

“We’re getting more and more evidence every time that as a wind farm is developed, these relationships are not seen in reality because other things influence tourism behaviour,” he said.

Mr Blackett said while the report “didn’t particularly look at the island economy”, it focused on rural areas where landscape is a driver of tourism, adding: “To that extent, it seems like relevant evidence to this project.”

However, Faye Macleod, an accountant on Skye, said research on tourism impact was often only focused on the period “once a wind farm is operational”.

Speaking at the inquiry, Ms MacLeod said: “There is the operational aspect, but there’s also the construction period. If we’re talking about one project putting up nine turbines, that construction impact would be far less significant than if we’re talking about the cumulative impact of all of these projects.”

The island, just this week, saw plans lodged for three more wind farms in the same area of the island as Ben Aketil.

Ms MacLeod said from discussions with developers, the construction of such developments could span over “at least five years” on the island, which will see challenges, including an increase in large construction lorries on the roads.

Skye often makes the headlines in the busy tourist season for traffic jams at some of the hot-spot sites, such as the Fairy Pools, due to limited infrastructure and poorly maintained roads.

“My concerns is the five or six or seven or eight years it takes to get these projects up and running and the impact that will have on tourism,” she said.

Ms MacLeod said she had “grave concerns” about the increase in Abnormal Indivisible Loads (AILs) on the road through Skye, which she described as “a lifeline route” for island communities on Skye and in the Outer Hebrides, plus an important route for the supply chain to tourist businesses on the island.

Ms Macleod told the inquiry Skye should be looked at differently to mainland areas when it comes to studies on tourism and its relation to wind farms.

“Skye is an island and that is not the same as the mainland, particularly where wind farms are located,” she said.

“Skye is also, anecdotally, the second most visited place after Edinburgh. However, Portree’s population means the Scottish Government’s classification classifies it as being ‘remote rural’, so we find ourselves in quite a unique position where I don’t think we can take a study that’s looked at primarily mainland projects.”

The accountant pointed out tourists visit Skye “primarily for the scenery”, which she said also places the island in a unique position.