EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The Scottish government told the developer of a proposed wind farm on a Hebridean island Friday it is "minded to refuse" permission for the project.
In a 14-page letter to Ameco, officials asked for a response to concerns about the wind farm within three weeks, The Scotsman reported.
The island of Lewis is split about the prospect of 176 150-foot-high turbines. Property owners whose land overlooks areas where turbines would be placed generally oppose the project while others like the jobs it would bring -- 400 during construction jobs and 70 afterwards as well as jobs generated by the millions of pounds paid to islanders.
"If you think of pound signs every time it spins, I think they are quite beautiful," said Archie Campbell, chairman of the local council's sustainable economic development committee.
The wind farm would also put Scotland considerably closer to meeting its goal of generating 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
