 Jim Guthrie looks out of his window, across the lovely wooded valley of the River Duisk. Beneath his house a bridge crosses the river, carrying the a714 road from Girvan up to Barrhill.  Suddenly there s a great roaring din. a huge 12-wheeled truck is having trouble crossing the narrow bridge, and then negotiating the sharp bend at the far side. Jim sighs and says:  at least that one didn t smash the bridge. It s been damaged so often, the council doesn t bother to do the repairs any more .  The a714 is a narrow, steep road but its a-road status makes it in theory suitable for all types of traffic. These days many very long trucks are using it because of windfarm developments in the area. Land needs to be cleared, and this often requires the felling of timber. Scarring new tracks are built across virgin country, and there is much disruptive construction work. Big loads including the colossal turbines themselves   are transported up totally unsuitable roads.  Jim Guthrie is a retired Church of  Scotland minister. Like so many Scots, he is all in favour of renewable energy. But local, harrowing experience has made him deeply sceptical about windfarms.  Through the recent severe winter, when there was a big demand for electricity, Jim monitored the turbines in his immediate area. He counted 73 days when there was little or no turbine activity.  The turbines don t operate if there s a hard frost, or if the wind speed is less than 15mph or  more than 45 mph. So they simply don t work for long periods,  he says.  are they worth all the bother they cause? I don t think so .  With Jim is Claire Perrie, secretary of the local community council. She tells me:  I don t think that people in Glasgow or Edinburgh understand what it s like living near these things. and I don t think some politicians understand what they ve agreed to. The landowners and the  contactors make a lot of money, the rest of us just suffer.  She a 