Moffat has a vibrant local community which is a mixture of long-established
residents and incomers of all ages who come to live here because of
the amenities and the beauty of the place. Dumfries and Galloway has
a fragile economy which would suffer if the prosperity of the Moffat
area was reduced because it was no longer found to be an attractive
place for people to live in.
If the Earlshaugh development is approved the high level of traffic
disruption during the construction period will further damage the
town's economy and the amenity of local residents. The value and saleability
of local properties are likely to be diminished.
Moffat depends on the tourist trade and its economic wellbeing relies
on walkers and sightseers wanting to visit and re-visit the area to
enjoy the scenery.
When the A74 was upgraded to Motorway, Moffat experienced a slump
in the number of visitors coming to and staying in the town, to the
extent that two hotels closed and a number of bed and breakfast establishments
stopped supplying that service because they were no longer viable.
Moffat & District Community Initiative decided that there was
a opportunity to develop walking in the hills and in the dales in
and around Moffat so they started an Annual Walking Festival in 2000.
This has been very successfully held in October of every year since.
The Initiative also took on the responsibility of organising the
Paths to Health walks and are held every Wednesday, with a short ½
hour walk and a longer 2 hour walk. Those walks are well attended
and meet at the Hammerlands Centre every Wednesday at 10am sharp.
Building on that success a number of way-marked walks were developed
in and around the town and during that process a local Ramblers club was
formed, which is growing from strength to strength, their walks cover
a wider area and are held fortnightly.
The local ramblers group have invited the Scottish Ramblers Annual
Gathering to Moffat where up to 150 members from Rambler clubs from
all over Scotland will come and enjoy the great walks that we have
to offer and to enjoy our hospitality. That will be held in the first
weekend in May 2009.
Moffat also became aware of a organisation started in Hebden Bridge
which aim was to recognise towns who welcomed walkers. The Initiative
applied, met the criteria and Moffat became Scotlands first 'Walkers
Are Welcome' town. The hope is that the A.G.M. of the 'Walkers are
Welcome' town network will be held in Moffat in 2010.
There is no doubt that if the Wind farm application at Earlshaugh
(the Devil's Beef Tub) gets the go ahead it will damage the prospects
of Moffat becoming a Centre for Walking. It will also damage tourism
- the Upper Annandale valley, with the Beef tub at its head, is one
of Moffat's most scenic areas. To build 36 wind turbines at that spot
is corporate vandalism of the worst kind and should be contested to
the greatest degree, and at every opportunity, by all concerned persons.
The historic and dramatic Devils Beef Tub and Hartfell are famous
local landmarks which attract many people to the area. A Visit Scotland
Survey clearly showed that a minimum of between 15-25% of people would
not wish to return to an area dominated by wind turbines. Many Moffat
businesses could not sustain a reduction of income of this magnitude
and this development would therefore result in Moffat businesses closing.
Some key facts about the effect of wind turbines on tourism
1. From Earlshaugh Wind Farm Environmental Impact Assessment 2008
A survey of visitors in Moffat and the surrounding area. Commissioned
by Wind Energy Ltd.
The developer's Environmental Impact Assessment predicts that there
would be no significant impacts on tourism as a result of the Earlshaugh
Wind Farm. However, the survey they used in reaching this conclusion
established that;
• Responses to the survey suggested that visitors touring, sight
seeing and walking would be most affected.
• The visitor experience in and around Moffat would be affected
by the Earlshaugh wind farm.
• More people surveyed said they would be discouraged from returning
to the area than those who would be encouraged, though the majority
expressed no opinion either way.
• 58% of serious walkers surveyed felt Earlshaugh would have
a negative effect on the scenery.
2. From the Visit Scotland survey dated 2002.
Title: "Investigation into the Potential Impact of Wind Farms
on Tourism in Scotland"
Prepared by: NFO System Three, 19 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh,EH3 8HQ
Note
At the date of this survey (2002) the number and size of both turbines
and wind farms was much smaller than is now the case. There were less
wind farms built.
The public's attitude to wind farms may have changed in the light
of the greater size of turbines and the number and size of wind farms
that are now being built.
Most of the surveys that are done on this subject are commissioned
by organisations with a vested interest (such as wind power companies)
and their results should therefore be approached with caution.
Recent research of the same quality is not available
• Over 80% of the visitors interviewed said they came to Scotland
for the beautiful scenery.
• Some 58% of respondents agreed that wind farms spoil the look
of the countryside.
• 15% of those surveyed answered categorically that they would
steer clear of an area with a wind development.
• Just over a quarter of respondents claimed that they would
be likely to avoid any parts of the countryside with wind farms (28%).
We welcome your support.
