SCOTLAND AGAINST SPIN comment on Scottish Government decision to refuse Dunbeath windfarm in Caithness
Linda Holt, spokeswoman for Scotland Against Spin commented on today’s decision to refuse Dunbeath windfarm in Caithness:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/06/Dunbeath07062013
“We applaud Fergus Ewing’s decision today to take the advice of Scottish Natural Heritage and refuse West Coast Energy permission for 17 125m industrial turbines plus associated infrastructure.
For once he’s done the right thing and for the right reasons:
The Scottish Government wants to see the right developments in the right places and Scottish planning policy is clear that the design and location of any wind farm should reflect the scale and character of the landscape and should be considered environmentally acceptable.
The significant adverse impacts of this proposed wind farm on nearby wild land and key landscape characteristics in conjunction with the cumulative effects with other wind farms and visual impacts on recreational and road users is [sic.] too great.
The same reasons will apply to virtually all of the applications Mr Ewing currently has before him for wind farms over 50 MW, and we plead with him to apply his new-found wisdom equally to these.
These applications include 23 turbines of 149.5m at Druim Ba near Loch Ness, 31 turbines of 125m at Allt Duine near Aviemore, 31 turbines of 110m at Glenkirk by Tomatin, 24 turbines of 125m at Earlshaugh near Moffat, 23 turbines of 125m at Rowantree near Oxton, 39 turbines of 120m at Harelaw by Neilston, 83 turbines of 135m at Stronelairg in the Monadhliath Mountains, and Glencassley and Sallachy, near Loch Shin and Ben Assynt, totalling 48 turbines at least 125 metres tall.
The Dunbeath decision was unexpected because Mr Ewing has a track record of rubberstamping four out of every five applications for the biggest wind farms (over 50 MW) which pass across his desk.
Perhaps he is now taking his cue from Westminster where ministers yesterday reined in damaging windfarm development in England. They acknowledged that planning decisions had neglected local concerns about landscape and cumulative impacts, and announced new planning guidelines to discourage environmentally harmful windfarm development.”
14 Comments
Teresa Maria · June 13, 2013 at 9:20 am
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10117029/Revealed-How-SNP-pressurises-councils-to-allow-more-wind-farms.html
This article shows how our Scottish government has been operating ‘behind the scenes’. It saddens me greatly to see our lovely country destroyed in this way. The wind farms are so environmentally destructive, the money goes to so few snouts, the bird kill and the wildlife ignored, the health impacts on the people ignored, fuel-poverty ignored, and all for a technology that doesn’t work. Ignorance of the facts is no longer an excuse, so what is really behind these monstrocities? However, my greatest sorrow still lies with the destruction of this land and the despoiling of our views. Absolute shame on the snouts who have carried out this destruction on the Scottish people and their lands.
Linda Holt · June 17, 2013 at 6:44 pm
We’ve just received an answer to our question to the Energy Consents and Deployment Unit concerning the number of Section 36 applications awaiting a decision from the Minister – these are the 50MW plus applications which get decided directly by the Scottish Government under the 1989 Electricity Act.
They are currently considering 46 onshore wind applications, but they assure us none are actually sitting on Fergus Ewing’s desk as yet.
Given how long some of these applications have been with the ECDU after all consultations have been concluded (including a PLI in many cases), it really makes one wonder what the civil servants are doing – or perhaps they are just so backed up because of the sheer volume of applications.
For people threatened by Section 36 applications, and the accompanying blight on property near huge industrial wind farms, the endless wait is unforgivable.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Infrastructure/Energy-Consents/Application-Process/Consideration-Determinati
Fatma · July 23, 2013 at 8:37 pm
According to the wind energy iusrdtny associations, wind energy is regarded as one of the safest forms of electricity generation. One would hardly expect the wind iusrdtny to make comments about turbine accidents.Gordon Hughes, Professor of Economics at Edinburgh University, has calculated that the bill for wind energy by 2020 will cost consumers a3120 billion. Generating the same amount of electricity from efficient gas-powered stations costs a313bn. Government figures only admit to wind energy being double the price of other sources. As I understand it, this is because they ignore feed-in tariffs, the Renewables Obligation, the cost of extending the Grid infrastructure, transmission losses, and the money it takes to maintain the spinning reserve.