When Keith Brander’s father Donald bought an old schoolhouse in the 1960s, it was a near perfect rural scene of rolling fields, native woodlands and unspoiled views. Since then, four generations of the family have enjoyed long holidays at the whitewashed property; and the landscape, with its small farms, native Read more
Groundbreaking new rules should be brought in that would give communities more control over major green developments in their local area and rights to a share in the profits, a landmark new report recommends. The proposal comes amid an ongoing boom in demand and prices for land in Scotland that Read more
The spreadsheets below show the S36 scoping schemes and S36 live applications which were available on the ECU website on 1st October 2023. They are listed alphabetically. I have omitted some which are very old and any applications to extend the operational life of consented schemes There’s no doubt some Read more
Rushing through wind farm plans IT has been announced that the Scottish Government is cutting the planning process for onshore wind farms to 12 months. It’s a surprise move since most of the existing applications can’t get a grid connection for several years. Why the rush? With National Planning Read more
The body tasked with protecting Scotland’s environment has had its funding slashed by more than a quarter in real terms since 2010, prompting accusations it is not a “priority” for the Scottish Government. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) is responsible for keeping Scotland’s environment “safe, healthy and sustainable” and Read more
Letter in the Times on 28 September.
Wind rush Dr Sam Gardner, ScottishPower’s head of climate change and sustainability, insists Government planning rules are delaying renewable energy schemes for years (28 September). He obviously doesn’t understand there is a good reason for the length of time taken for any application to work its way through the Read more
WINDFARMS were a hot topic once again at this month’s meeting of Moffat and District Community Council (MDCC). Community group Save Our Hills Moffat (SOHM) delivered a presentation on Tuesday night detailing their objections to the proposed windfarms at Scoop Hill and Rivox. The presentation was the second of its Read more