Vice-Convener Slams Calls For Public Inquiry Into Wind Farms |
12 July 2005 |
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The Vice-Convener of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has criticised calls for a public inquiry into wind farm applications in the Western Isles, claiming such a move could lead to a repeat of a Lingerbay situation which dragged on for years creating huge uncertainty for the affected communities and cost the Comhairle almost £1m. Mr. Angus Campbell said: “If the Scottish Executive decides an inquiry is appropriate then we will have to go down that route. And they will reach their view after considering all the evidence as we did in reaching our views. I find it strange therefore that our Member for the Westminster Parliament should seek to prejudice the Executive’s consideration. Let there be no doubt about the consequences of this approach. Any inquiries would take months if not years and cost everyone participating a lot of money. The communities of Harris will recall the crippling uncertainty that affected their area during the protracted Lingerbay case. And unlike Lingerbay, these projects are time critical. I find it very disappointing that our MP fails to grasp the significance of this. I also find it very disappointing that some of his comments betray a lack of knowledge of how we reached our position on the windfarm applications. To suggest that we have engaged in a ‘headlong rush’ or ‘without forethought’ is, quite simply, mistaken and does him no credit. Such comments are certainly disappointing to Councillors, officials, community representatives and many others who dedicated enormous amounts of time and energy to gathering together information, disseminating that information, attending Community meetings and writing papers.” I find it astonishing that our MP, who must have many priorities that fall within his remit, is advocating a course of action that could subject the people of the Western Isles to the paralysing uncertainty of drawn out proceedings that are unlikely to produce any essential knowledge or information not already known. What does Mr. MacNeil think would be an acceptable price to the people of the Western Isles to pay for this? £50k? £100k? £1m? And can I also ask Mr MacNeil to identify which services he thinks the Comhairle should cut in order to pay for the lawyers and consultants of Edinburgh and Glasgow? I am at a loss to understand the rather cryptic message that the Comhairle was considering things other than wind farms in its deliberations and would ask Mr. MacNeil to explain further. Finally I would like to correct the basic errors in Mr. MacNeil’s media statements. The outputs produced would actually be 702MW from the LWP proposal and 399MW from the BMP scheme. The Comhairle has supported the applications with the condition that 25 turbines are removed from the LWP proposals and 3 from the LWP which gives a total of 339 turbines, not ‘nearly 400’. There is no statutory requirement for the Scottish Executive to approve these schemes. The Executive has to determine the applications. The local authorities in Cumbria and a range of other parties, including the designated National Park, opposed the application they had before them. An Inquiry then became automatic so comparisons are invalid with the Lewis proposals. It must be emphasised that if the Comhairle wished to be heard at any inquiry, the costs of lawyers and any experts or consultants would be borne by the Comhairle. And everyone giving evidence would have to meet their own costs. The proposed windfarm developments are not ‘ad hoc’. There is a National Planning Framework which identifies the Western Isles as having tremendous renewable resources and advocates an improved connection to the mainland. The projects are also in line with policies such as Creating Communities of the Future and the Energy Innovation Zone, both of which are supported by our Community Planning partners and the Scottish Executive approved Development Plan for the Western Isles. We wish to work with other democratically elected representatives at a UK, Scottish and Community level in the best interests of the people of the Western Isles. I would invite Mr MacNeil to engage positively with us in that process. Notes to editors: Eden District Council has objected to this application (Whinash, Cumbria) and requested that planning approval is refused. Eden District Council joined forces with Cumbria County Council, the Lake District National Park Authority, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and South Lakeland District Council and presented a combined case in opposition to the Windfarm proposal. Nigel Scott Tel: 01851 709389 (Work) |
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