IN last week’s ‘Letters’, Mrs Holt, a Tory councillor for Pittenweem, attacked me about Mossmorran and windfarms in Fife.

Whilst she has consistently attacked me for years about windfarms, that does not make her criticism valid.

Whilst leader of Fife Council I brought forward a detailed review of windfarm policy which included a widespread consultation and as a result Fife now has one of the most comprehensive policy frameworks of any authority in the UK. It did not satisfy Mrs Holt who wanted a blanket ban and I have got used to her personal attacks ever since.

Similarly on the question of Mossmorran it is simply not true to say that I have not done anything on the concerns. I worked with Chair of Cowdenbeath Area Committee, Willie Clarke, to get an NHS review of any potential health impacts; we met with the company, had ExxonMobil and Shell at the Area Committee to be questioned in public, had Fife Council work with SEPA and questioned them in public on the reports they produced.

I last met with SEPA on the December 9 last year where I put a host of questions to them on the noise levels and my concerns on what it is being released into the air we breathe. As is the norm I was given lots of technical information that concluded there are no safety risks. And, that is why after this latest episode, whilst welcoming the fact that NHS Fife and SEPA are going to have another investigation, I decided to call for an independent investigation into the whole site. I also met this year on the April 13 with NHS Fife and asked for specific information on cancer levels in the Cowdenbeath area to see if there was any major difference from the report presented to the area committee some years ago.

So I do understand that Mrs Holt is bitter because I did not get wind farms banned across Fife but I really think when it comes to Mossmorran what we need is unity to find a way forward not the nasty divisive politics that she seems to revel in.

ALEX ROWLEY,

MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife.