View from the heights

Calton has decided to have a break from politics for a couple of days and so has flown up to Glencoe for a Burns Supper with some fellow mountain-lovers. From his vantage point above the Devil's Staircase this afternoon he could see for miles around and not a wind farm in sight, which is increasingly unusual in the Highlands these days. His keen eye spotted the ski tows on Meall a' Bhuiridh and the reservoir which used to supply the aluminium smelter at Kinlochleven but both of those have blended into the landscape over the years, something which large wind turbines are unlikely ever to do, and both the ski development, and the smelter in its heyday, provided more local jobs than windfarms do. What the Highlands needs is sustainable, long-term employment, not blots on the landscape which require very little maintenance once installed (unless they blow up in a gale)!