A survey conducted by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland amongst hillwalkers and climbers has shown the extent of the negative impact on that key activity tourism audience of peppering Scotland’s wild areas with wind turbines.
- 67% of the 1,000 surveyed said the turbines made them disinclined to revisit old haunts and to visit new ones.
- 80% + said that there is a need to protect areas of special beauty like the wildernesses and the national parks
- 66% called also for buffer zones around these areas.
A spokesperson for the Mountaineering Council pointed out that it is foolish to allow badly sited wind farms to put at risk a natural heritage tourism economy worth £1.6 billion a year.
