Today has seen Planning Minister Derek McKay launch the draft Scottish Planning Policy for “a further round of public consultation”. This was accompanied by a press release which appeared to promise a revamp of planning policy which would give much greater protection to wild land and people living near proposed wind developments. Sadly this appears to be no more than spin.
You can read the draft SPP at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/NPF3-SPP-Review.
SAS has released the following media comment:
People fighting inappropriate wind developments across Scotland will be very disappointed. There is very little new here – it’s already the case that wind farms can’t be built in National Parks, but the issue is that Scotland only has two National Parks and without buffer zones they are still at risk of having 140m turbines towering over their boundaries. We already have a 2km setback for turbines from communities but this is only “guidance” and is routinely ignored by wind developers; a 2.5 km setback which is not mandatory is similarly meaningless. What’s the point of protecting wild land from wind turbines when there is no protection against criss-crossing it with giant pylons and infrastructure for offshore wind development?
It’s still open season for the wind industry in Scotland. Any extra discouragement to turbinise the 31% of the wildest or most scenic land just ups the pressure on the remaining 69% of Scotland – this is where the vast majority of people live and where there are plenty of cherished natural landscapes which windfarms will ruin.
This review of Scottish Planning Policy amounts to fiddling while Rome burns. As long as the Scottish Government refuses to acknowledge that Scotland cannot accommodate an infinite number of ever larger turbines, the destruction of our natural environment will continue whatever the Planning Minister says.
SAS will also be responding to the consultation on SPP and the Main Issues Report for the third National Planning Framework. Any individual and group can also respond, so please do. A questionnaire for responding is provided online at the link above although comments can also be made via letter or e-mail if preferred. Contact details are on the website together with further opportunities on how to engage with the consultation process. The closing date for further comments is 23 July 2013.
2 Comments
Linda Holt · April 30, 2013 at 5:58 pm
Well done Mark Rowley, and well done STV for asking people threatened by turbines how they feel about this!
http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2013-04-30/campaigners-hit-out-at-borders-windfarm-plans/
Linda Holt · May 1, 2013 at 11:04 am
John Graham has just posted this on the SAS fb page:
“Read the small print. It is illuminating and puts economic drivers to the fore. I think that this is more spin than substance but it does reflect that the Scottish Government is having a bad hair day with Planning Approvals. A lot of the rank and file is pretty pi**ed off with their double standards.
Let the Planning Inspectorate know. Drop in Events: City / Town Venue Date Time
Inverness Eastgate Centre 14 May 2013 9 am – 6 pm
Aberdeen Bon Accord 15 May 2013 9 am – 6 pm
Irvine Rivergate Centre 21 May 2013 9 am – 5.30 pm
Oban Corran Halls 23 May 2013 12 pm – 6 pm
Dundee Overgate Centre 28 May 2013 9 am – 6 pm
Edinburgh The Gyle Centre 30 May 2013 9 am – 9 pm
Kirkwall Kirkwall Town Hall 4 June 2013 1 pm – 6 pm
Glasgow St. Enoch Shopping Centre 6 June 2013 9 am – 8 pm
Dumfries The Cairndale Hotel 13 June 2013 9 am – 6 pm
More is on John Graham’s excellent site here: http://windfarmaction.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/are-the-new-planning-guidelines-a-ray-of-hope-or-just-humbug/