Argylllshire Advertiser From our Files, Friday February 21 2025

TWENTY YEARS AGO
Friday February 25, 2005

New plans for controversial Allt Dearg wind farm

Changes have been made to the design of a controversial wind farm proposed for Allt Dearg, near Lochgilphead.
npower renewables, the company proposing to site the wind farm on the border of Ormsary and Stronachullin Estates, is holding public exhibitions in Lochgilphead Community Centre today and tomorrow.

Details of the changes and developments will be available. The company is holding the exhibitions as it prepares to submit a planning application for the wind farm.

Computer-generated images of how the wind farm could look will be on display and members of the npower team will talk about the project and discuss people’s ideas and suggestions.

Frank Park, project manager, said: ‘The site has been selected by npower renewables as potentially suitable for a wind energy development because it has a number of attributes which have allowed power renewables to design a wind farm with minimal environmental effects and a high energy output, as follows:

• Outside international, national and local designations for landscape and ecology (plants and animals).
• Excellent road access - an important consideration during the construction period
• High wind speed ensuring high productivity and high electricity output. 
•  Some distance from dwellings to preserve amenity.

If it goes ahead, the project will have up to a maximum of 14 wind turbines, each capable of producing between two and three megawatts (MW) of electricity. Together, they will form a wind farm with a total capacity of between 28 and 42MW.

Argyllwindfarms.com, a group set up to oppose inappropriately-sited wind farms in Argyll, last year called for npower to withdraw its proposals for Allt Dearg. Members of the group felt the turbines would have an adverse impact on the landscape, particularly as viewed from Lochgilphead. 

FORTY YEARS AGO
Friday February 22, 1985

Inveraray Courthouse ‘time-machine’ idea

The firm which operates the Landmark Centre in Carrbridge and Camera Obscura in Edinburgh has expressed an interest in the historic Inveraray Courthouse which has been advertised for lease by Argyll and Bute District Council.

David Hayes, director of the firm, told the Advertiser that the Carrbridge Centre receives approximately 200,000 visits each year while the Camera Obscura and Outlook tower, at the top of Edingurgh’s Royal Mile, attracts about 80,000 people annually.

The firm’s interest was reported to last week’s meeting of the district council’s tourism, leisure and recreation committee when Jim Moran, departmental director, was given authority to explore the matter further.
He described the firm’s interest as ‘exciting’. 

Mr Hayes told the ‘Advertiser’ that he had visited the court-house, completed in 1820 and the scene of many famous trials, about four weeks ago.

‘We think it could be made into a reasonably viable visitor attraction,’ he added. 

Mr Hayes said the building had been ‘immaculately and beautifully restored’. But he stressed it was urgent something was done with it as it was deteriorating with plaster flaking off the walls in the cell blocks.

Mr Hayes said that any Inveraray development would not be along the lines of the firm’s previous work at Carrbridge, Edinburgh or Stirling where a Landmark centre now sold to the Ancient Monuments Division, was formerly based.

He stressed a great deal of work would have to be done on such a project, adding that a development would have to ‘make sure that the visitors went through that area as if it was a time machine, and came out with an accurate idea of what it was like in the 1830s and really about what the penal system was like in that period’.

“A very exciting story could be brought alive,’ he added.

Although a great deal of work had been done in the restoration, it would require a lot of imagination to ‘make it work and that is the missing ingredient, he said.

“The main thing is that it’s got to be exciting and interesting for visitors on holiday and to school parties,” he said.
But any development with which his firm was associated would not happen this year, he said. “It needs a lot of work done on it to do it properly.”

If it was to open it should be with widespread publicity, said Mr Hayes, adding that it would need ‘very considerable numbers of people through it to make it viable’. There were substantial overheads and to open it properly would mean employing quite a few people.

Complaints over Tarbert pitch

A meeting of players, officials and supporters of the local football team was held in Tarbert Village Hall, last Friday.

Malcolm Macfarlane was elected manager and coach for the rest of the season.
Match secretary Eric MacDougall expressed disappointment at the lack of maintenance on the pitch at Ceil Andreis. 

He stated that annual maintenance was not enough and in winter the pitch showed signs of wear and tear, which he attributed to lack of attention by the district council.

The club secretary was instructed to write to the tourism, leisure and recreation department at Kilmory on the matter.

SIXTY YEARS AGO
Thursday February 23, 1965

TV difficulties in Lochgiplhead

Faced with complaints from viewers in the district, among them several councillors, a Clydebank company which relays the piped television supply into Lochgilphead has assured the town council an engineer will be based there full-time until all faults are rectified.

But when Provost Dugald MacBrayne repeated the company’s assurance, Councillor James Park complained that reception on his set had not improved.

“In fact, the picture swings about like a pendulum and I get both the BBC and STV  programmes at once,” he added.

The council last month referred the complaints to General Piped Television Ltd after hearing that reception varied widely throughout the town.

Reporting on discussions he held with an executive of the company, Provost MacBrayne said that almost all of the reception difficulties emanated from faults in the main cables.

“Where the cable has snapped or is showing signs of cracking, the company is renewing it,” added Provost MacBrayne.

Explaining the reason for the failure in sound in parts of the town last week, Provost MacBrayne said this had been due to transformer difficulty. A new transformer had been installed immediately but it could not be adjusted as a wave meter, operated by batteries, failed at the vital time.

He had, however, received a personal assurance from a senior executive that an engineer would be based full-time in the town until all the faults were rectified.

“Certainly reception has improved around the Brae during the past three days,” commented treasurer Dr A I McCallum.

“But some areas have not had sound at all for a few days,” complained Provost MacBrayne.

“You should contact GPT direct at Dumbarton, reversing the charge,” advised Provost MacBrayne after Councillor Park said he had mentioned the fact he was getting both channels simultaneously. Provost MacBrayne added that the Clydebank company had been asked by the education authorities to remove their overhead line and poles from the field at the school.

“GPT will have either to move the poles as requested or install the line underground,” he went on.
But for difficulties in obtaining way-leaves, the company would have taken the overhead line another shorter route, said Provost MacBrayne, but if they had to move soon, and they might, some ratepayers would be left without television.

“I feel that as the local authority, representing ratepayers in the town, we should ask the education committee to allow the company to retain the poles in their situations until the town’s new housing development is completed.” 

The council agreed unanimously to ask for an extension.