News Elsewhere contains mainly articles we have permission to republish from Views of Scotland and Country Guardian. You can learn more about these organisations by visiting: http://www.countryguardian.net/ and http://www.viewsofscotland.org/. Occasionally we will also post news from elsewhere on the web.
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
A beautiful poem. Thank you to George MacEachran for allowing us to post it on our website. Turbines loom, a stark display, Scotland’s beauty, they take away, Intruding on landscapes, we cherish so, To spare Europe’s need, they have to go. Once serene, the hillsides stood, Now disrupted, misunderstood, Turbines Read more
One of Britain’s largest onshore wind developers has said it is halting development of its biggest project to date due to rising costs and the government’s windfall tax on green power. Community Windpower won planning permission in August for a new wind farm in southern Scotland capable of producing enough Read more
The Scottish Government plans to use its powers to support onshore wind developments by speeding up the planning process. Residents in the areas affected may not be so happy. Last week the Scottish Government unveiled an Onshore Wind Sector deal, which it reckons will help to secure a big increase Read more