There is a plan for a tidal turbine to be located off the Mull of Kintyre. A plan showing the proposed location is shown here. Click the picture for an enlargement.
There will be a buoy attached to the top of the unit (which will be anchored to the sea-bed 10m below Chart Datum) which could cause a navigational hazard, particularly in poor visibility.
The Club committee is against the proposal to install the device here. We have been in touch with the RYA who have asked us to provide evidence to support the claim that the proposal constitues a navigational hazard. What would be really useful would be evidence that can be used to demonstrate why having buoys there would lead to a risk of collision and a subsequent loss of life.
Such evidence could include cases where a vessel set out to round the Mull and ran into an unforecast fog bank, or lost power (due to flotsam getting caught in the prop or rudder) and drifted, or experienced steep short seas in the location chosen for the devices, or vessels without an auxiliary engine rounding the Mull, or time taken to rescue someone from that area, or recreational craft being squeezed inshore due to commercial traffic. Developers are often unaware of issues that are obvious to us.
Please get in touch with Dave Morris who will coordinate responses.