A Scottish petitioner has raised the alarm over the prospect of new onshore wind farm developments in Scotland – and it comes as the Government is U-turning on its 2016 ban on new projects in England too. Amid the urgent need to unlock cheaper energy sources amid a crisis that has seen bills soar, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has caved to pressure from his backbenchers after they pressed him to allow more renewable energy projects. Now, ministers will launch a consultation on whether to allow onshore windfarms to be built if they have the approval of local communities.
Barred under former Primer Minister David Cameron’s Government’s green energy subsidies, rural areas of England have not seen any new developments since 2016. While no new projects have been built in England for years, in Scotland, onshore wind developments have been coming in thick and fast.
Aileen Jackson, a petitioner for Scotland Against Spin, told Express.co.uk that Scottish residents are desperate to stop developers from “ruining our precious landscape” amid the prospect of huge turbines built nearby.
She added: “Rural residents in Scotland are facing wind turbines of 260m! We are desperate to stop further development from ruining our precious landscape, killing our wildlife and making wind farm neighbours’ lives a misery.
“The only people who support wind farms are those making huge sums of money out of them. Landowners, owner/operators and communities which have been bribed with community benefit but which are far enough away to get no impact from the development.”
This comes after Business Secretary Grant Shapps said that people “should have the right to choose what is built near them”, hinting that 2016 could be lifted.
He told ITV: “I’ve always been of the opinion that people should have the right to choose what is built near them, and so I’m looking forward to what the Government comes up with but I hope very much that we’ll stick to our commitment to make sure that we have the capability to build those energy production units that people want to have near them.
“If a community wants onshore wind it’s up to the community to decide, it’s not up to me to decide.”
Up in Scotland, Ms Jackson has been calling for Holyrood to increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore windfarms.
Ms Jackson claims that as well as ruining local landscapes, wind turbines do not produce a reliable source of energy.
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