Blog
Ask Argyll & Bute Council to Object to MachairWind
Urgent Opportunity To Influence Argyll & Bute Council’s Position The deadline for personal objections to MachairWind has passed — but there is another important opportunity to make your voice heard. On the 15th of September 2026, Argyll & Bute Council’s Planning, Protective Services and Licensing (PPSL) Committee is due to consider the MachairWind proposal. The…
Read More Wind Energy: Looking Beyond The Soundbites
If this application were to succeed it would result in environmental, cultural and socio-economic vandalism on a massive scale. It’s hard to see how approval of such a damaging scheme could show anything other than contempt on the part of the Scottish Government for the affected communities and the environments in which they live (exemplified…
Read More Scotland Doesn’t Need More Energy — Here’s Why, From a Global Energy Director Born and Raised on Islay
I am writing to object to the MachairWind Offshore Wind Farm. I am Islay born and raised from a multi-generational Islay family. I also have 35 years’ experience as an executive and non-executive director in the global energy sector , including leadership of the Northern European Gas Power & renewables Business for a Major Energy…
Read More Tobermory Artist, David Page’s Lament to What Will be Lost if MachairWind is Approved
In this symbolic painting, David Page has created a lament to what would be lost if MachairWind goes ahead. The proposed wind farm development, featuring massive turbines towering to the height of the Eiffel Tower, directly threatens the historic maritime horizon between Iona and Ireland. This open sea passage was once a bustling maritime highway…
Read More The Spirit of “Local Hero” and the Reality of MachairWind
Why We Sent “Local Hero” to the Chairman of Iberdrola This week, the people of Iona sent a personalised copy of Bill Forsyth’s iconic film Local Hero to Ignacio Sánchez Galán, Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, the parent company of ScottishPower Renewables which is applying to build the MachairWind wind farm. Alongside it was an open…
Read More Iona Community Council Brief
Proposed MachairWind Offshore Wind Farm Updated brief, Iona Community Council, May 2026 (v.2.2) MachairWind is a proposed offshore wind farm south of Iona covering an area equivalent to more than half the landmass of Mull. It comprises 91 x 335 meter tall turbines, which would be among the tallest currently operational in the world, and…
Read More Artist’s Perspective on Landscape, Culture and What We Stand To Lose due to MachairWind
This interview brings together Hebridean Horizon and artist Rutger Emmelkamp, co‑founder of KNOCKvologan Studio on the Isle of Mull. Rutger’s work is rooted in close observation of the Hebridean landscape, shaped by weather, tides, and the deep cultural values of place. His long‑form project Hebridean Horizons sits within a wider practice that merges art, ecology,…
Read More MachairWind Community Benefit Fund – Some Of Your Questions Answered
What is a Community Benefit Fund and should it influence your opinion on MachairWind? Whether a community supports or opposes an offshore wind development should rely on its assessment of the wind farm’s environmental, cultural, social and economic impacts. Community benefit funding is not designed to shape whether a community supports or opposes a wind…
Read More Why Does NOT Producing Electricity Cost Us Millions?
Every year, we pay multiple millions of pounds to cover the cost of “constraint payments” through our electricity bills. These are payments made to power companies to switch off wind turbines due to the grid the infrastructure being insufficient to move the power from offshore wind farms to the places that need it, predominantly large…
Read More MachairWind: Impact on the Visitor Economy of Mull
Will ScottishPower Renewable’s MachairWind impact Mull’s visitor economy? As acting Chair of Visit Mull and Iona, with the support of the VMI Steering Group, I have been working closely with Iona Community Council which has carried out thorough research on the impacts of MachairWind. VMI is now part of Hebridean Horizon, a group formed to…
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