Friends of the Braes was set up by neighbours of the River Teith Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in the light of the increasingly serious environmental impact of the Braes of Doune wind farm near Stirling.
One of them, exasperated by what he felt was official complacency about these impacts, submitted a complaint in April 2006 to the EU's Environment Commissioner. This alleged significant breaches of EU Directives in Scottish Executive management of the project's planning cycle. It is being investigated.
In August, he published a report called Environmental issues at the Braes of Doune wind farm. Including professionally photographed aerial shots, it was a pictorial account of pollution incidents on the site.
The authorities continued to tell politicians that there were no significant pollution issues associated with the project. This was not the case.
Friends of the Braes was launched at a meeting in September 2006. It decided to go over official heads to tell the public what was happening and explain its political context.
- It commissioned a report describing its research into the relationship of the project to the River Teith SAC.
- It commissioned an expert study of the site waterways by Stirling University.
The group aims to breach a wall of silence to contain the damage already done. It also hopes its work will assist those assessing comparable projects elsewhere who are being treated with disdain by the authorities.
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