Same principle
In response to concerns raised in Holyrood in April about its plans to create Highly Protected Marine Areas in 10 per cent of Scotland’s seas, our First Minister responded by saying: “A very basic principle that we have always operated by, and I continue to reaffirm and confirm today, is that we are not going to impose these policies on communities that don’t want them, so we will work constructively with them.”
Does Thursday’s news that they have scrapped their plans mean they will also reconsider forcing wind farms and other unwanted development on rural communities which do not want them?
Campaign Group Scotland Against Spin has already raised this very question in their Public Petition to the Scottish Parliament which asks for an increase in the ability of communities to influence planning decisions. At the moment our views are largely ignored.
The views of coastal and rural communities are equally important and we expect the Scottish Government to be consistent and fair.
Aileen Jackson, Uplawmoor, East Renfrewshire
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