Well of course Oscar is going to say this, he’s just watched his pension go down the pan and you could say the same about any Reporter’s decision; many decisions to consent might have been different given another Reporter but we will never know, it’s the luck of the draw……………. If he is so convinced the Reporter is wrong then he or Falck Renewables should put their money where their mouths are and take legal action via judicial review.
A Glenkens landowner has criticised the Scottish Government’s decision to reject a windfarm proposal.
Part of Oscar Yerburgh’s Barwhillanty Estate, near Parton, was earmarked for some of the turbines of Falck Renewables’ Mochrum Fell development.
The firm was granted planning permission for eight turbines up to 126.5m tall on the site in 2016.
A new application was then lodged for seven turbines up to 150m tall but the Scottish Government rejected it last month amid concerns over the potential landscape and visual impact.
The move delighted campaign groups such as Help Save Mochrum Fell and Save Our Hill – but Mr Yerburgh believes not everyone was against the development.
He said: “The decision to refuse planning has almost entirely been made on a subjective view of the visual and landscape impacts of the development. There is an underlying thread through the report that ‘receptors’, or rather anyone who sees the windfarm views it in a purely negative manner.
“Many of the ‘receptors’ I have spoken to following the decision, who have expressed their sympathetic disappointment, do not see turbines in a negative light. Instead, they see them as a necessary and, in some instances, an elegant addition to our landscape that form a fundamental part to the sustainability of our future on this planet.
“Might they also be viewed as a 30-year feature of our landscape whilst better energy advances are made? For the avoidance of any confusion, under terms of most wind farm agreements, after the duration of the lease the site is restored to that which it once was, which is in our case productive woodland. It is indeed possible that if a better sustainable energy solution is not found these sites may, subject to revised terms, continue to operate. It has taken us just short of 12 years to reach a decision on this development; the public need to be aware that if we are to fight climate change we need to act and think long term. Bureaucracy and NIMBYism need to be overcome.
“Not only are we in the midst of a climatic emergency but the war in Ukraine has made it even more clear that our country has an energy problem. Onshore wind energy is the cheapest form of renewable energy per MW and with the pound at an all time low, our national debt at unprecedented levels and indeed our economy on the brink of recession, surely now is the time to support such projects.
“Inconsistency in the planning process is also clear; Blackcraig, the operational windfarm that towers above Mochrum, has approved planning permission for further turbines significantly greater and on higher elevations than Mochrum. The interpretation of a different reporter on a different day might have led to a different outcome.” Read on https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/glenkens-landowner-criticises-scottish-government-28271151?fbclid=IwAR09yMg815tCgt1vNH76aLYuXcwOvsHkfixAwYwqgYanmRXkPdhhwHADk3c
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