SCOTTISH BORDERS & LOTHIANS NEWS

BLACKMAINS GROUP LAUNCH WEBSITE

The Oppose Blackmains group have launched their new website.

German-owned, speculative wind developers Enertrag are proposing to build seven 125m (410 ft) turbines on a site bordering the A1, close to the villages of Ayton and Reston, and to a number of smaller settlements (see map below).

Enertrag recently closed their HQ in Norfolk, where they have received a hostile reception from local communities. They managed to build one wind park at North Pickenham, near Swaffham in 2006, but appeals of refusals at Hempnall, Guestwick (after a Judicial Review), Linton and Baumber have all failed.

It would seem that they see the Scotland and the Borders as an easier option.

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Enertrag website.

ANOTHER LARGE TURBINE SCHEME NEAR RESTON AND AYTON

German-owned wind developers EnergieKontor have announced a scheme for ten turbines at Horn Burn, on land south-east of Reston and south-west of Ayton adjacent to the B6355.

Introductory exhibitions:

UNDER SIEGE

The communities of Reston and Ayton are already under threat from the Blackmains proposal by Enertrag, another German-owned speculative wind development company, for seven 125m turbines on a site that borders the A1 (see below).

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Energiekontor website (no information posted on this scheme).

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT, ECONOMY, ENERGY & TOURISM COMMITTEE

INQUIRY INTO THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS:

“An inquiry into the achievability of the Scottish Government’s 2020 renewable energy targets, the merits of the targets and what the risks and barriers are to realising them.”

The Committee issued a call for evidence on Friday, 20 January, 2012. *

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* Downloadable from the Scottish Government Website.

‘GENTLE FOOTPRINT’ OR JACKBOOT?

“... a huge spatial footprint for a piddling little bit of electricity”

Scottish Natural Heritage’s footprint mapping, above, shows the huge spatial footprint of wind turbine arrays in Scotland as of July 2011. Note: these are just the site areas not the ‘visual footprint’ of turbine schemes (i.e. the area upon which they have a visual impact), which is massively larger.

As Sir Martin Holdgate, retired chairman of the Renewable Energy Advisory Group, put it: “The trouble with wind farms is that they have a huge spatial footprint for a piddling little bit of electricity.”

In the ‘Moorsyde’ case, we had a 300 acre site for seven 360 ft. turbines that might, erratically and intermittently, have produced as little as 18-24% of a headline capacity of 14MW.

By comparison, a small, modern combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station has a capacity of 500-600MW and a 50-60% load factor in producing reliable, base load power when it is needed.

COLDINGHAM TURBINE COLLAPSE

A 30m Hannevind turbine near Coldingham was collapsed by its constructors, Maden Design, after it suffered a brake failure in high winds on Wednesday, 7 December, 2011.

Lothian & Borders Police had overseen the evacuation of nearby houses and shut the A1107.

The turbine had been operating for only a couple of weeks. Swedish turbine manufacturers Hannevind were put into receivership shortly before the turbine was commissioned.

Other Hannevind turbines have now been shut down until such time as their safety can be assured.

The Hannevind collapse follows that of Scottish turbine manufacturer Proven Energy, which went into receivership in September 2011 after serious faults occurred in its flagship P35-2 model, forcing the company to suspend sales and warn customers to stop using the 12kW turbine.

Hundreds of customers have had their turbines shut down for months. Proven has now been sold to the Irish construction group Kingspan, but, as with Hannevind, it is not clear where this leaves owners of the faulty turbines.

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‘Coldingham wind gusts see houses evacuated’, BBC News, 8 December, 2011.

‘SCOTTISH GREEN ENERGY PLAN UNREALISTIC, REPORT WARNS’

‘Institution of Mechanical Engineers joins Citigroup in criticising aim to provide all electricity from renewables within nine years’

The Guardian, 3 November 2011.

‘Alex Salmond’s goal of meeting all Scotland’s electricity needs with green sources by 2020 has been attacked for the second time in a week for lacking credibility.

‘In a highly critical report, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (Imeche) said the first minister’s target was poorly worked out, uncosted and unrealistic.

[...]’

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Institution of Mechanical Engineers (Imeche), ‘Scottish Energy 2020? A target too far?’, November 2011. (Report download page).

‘ENERGY ROW DEEPENS AMID WARNINGS OF £900 BILL HIKES’

Herald Scotland, 3 November 2011.

‘David Cameron and Alex Salmond have clashed over a warning to energy giants about investing in Scotland as it was claimed Scots could face a hike in their electricity bills of almost £900 a year to pay for the SNP Government’s ambitious renewables policy.

‘A report by leading financial services firm Citigroup urged power companies to rethink investing in Scotland because of the uncertainty surrounding an independence referendum.

‘It said that if Scots bore the full burden of meeting the SNP Government’s commitment to provide all of Scotland’s electricity from renewables by 2020, the cost would be at least £4 billion a year, noting that “bills for residential consumers could rise by £875 per annum”.

[...]’

QUIXWOOD - APPLICATION LODGED

Banks Renewables, part of the private coal mining, property and waste group, have submitted an application for fourteen 125.25m turbines at Quixwood, near Grantshouse.

The application adds to the rash of turbine developments along the A1 corridor and threatens further cumulative degradation of tourist landscapes in the eastern Lammermuirs and of the Southern Uplands Way, which will soon have to be renamed the ‘Southern Uplands Turbine Track’.

Comments on the Quixwood application can be submitted online - see link below.

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SBC Appl. Ref. 11/01662/FUL.
Response Group: Save the Lammermuirs (STL)

PENMANSHIEL - APPLICATION LODGED

Developers RES submitted an application for fifteen 100m turbines at Penmanshiel on 27 October.

Their site borders the 22 turbine Drone Hill array that is under construction near Coldingham, Scottish Borders.

The Drone Hill site was refused locally, following the Planning Officer’s recommendation, before being overturned at appeal by a Scottish Government Reporter

Comments on the Penmanshiel application can be submitted online - see link below.

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SBC Planning Ref. 11/01464/FUL
Developer website.
Drone Hill website

BRUNTA HILL - APPLICATION LODGED

An application has been submitted by German-owned developer PNE Wind for ten 126.5m turbines at Brunta Hill, between Lauder and Westruther.

The site is partially bounded by the Wind Turbine Way (also known as the Southern Upland Way).

Details available online. It is also possible to comment on the application online, see below.

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Response group:
Brunta Hill Action Group (BHAG) - Email BHAG.
Developer website.
SBC Planning Ref.SBC Planning Ref. 11/01444/FUL .
See also: BBC News, ‘Brunta Hill wind farm application submitted’, 20 October, 2011.
‘PNE Wind reveals plan to join UK wind energy gold rush’, BusinessGreen.com, 17 May 2010.
‘Wind turbines just keep on coming’, Berwickshire News, 8 September 2010.
‘Rape of the Lammermuirs’, below.

FALLAGO RIG - RADAR AGREEMENT RELEASED

A heavily redacted copy of the ‘Fallago Rig - Radar Contribution Agreement’ has eventually been released.*

The document is almost meaningless because of the extent of the redactions.

The Scottish Government is refusing to let the tax-payer know how much the various wind companies will be contributing to the costs of this ‘solution’ to problems caused by wind turbines to air defence radar, or the dates by which conditions are to be met.

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* The document is available from the Energy Consents website.

SELKIRK REGENERATION COMPANY STILL PURSUING TURBINE PROJECT

It has been announced that Selkirk Regeneration Company has been awarded a £140,000 loan by the Scottish Government to pursue the development of a 2MW turbine scheme on the town’s North Common.

The company, which has charitable status, held a referendum in 2009 which claimed 56 per cent approval to progress “the development of a wind farm of up to six turbines”.

It seems ironic that a small faction in the town are hell-bent on undermining the efforts that Borders Council have made to defend tourist landscapes in the area from commercial wind development by rejecting the Minch Moor and Broadmeadows developments.

If successful, this scheme is likely trigger further ‘me too’ applications from commercial developers and would undermine landscape protection arguments for subsequent turbine development.

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‘Full consultation promised over first community wind farm’, Southern Reporter, 15 October, 2011.

‘FEARS FOR REIVER HEARTLAND UNDER THREAT FROM TURBINES’

Southern Reporter, 15 October, 2011.

‘BORDER warfare has broken out over the threat to one of the oldest castles in Scotland from a proposed wind farm project in Liddesdale.

‘Hermitage Castle has stood guard over the valley of the Liddel Water for 400 years – an area described by George Macdonald Fraser in his famous book on the reivers, The Steel Bonnets, as ‘the guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain’.

‘As such, it is one of the country’s oldest surviving castles, but now Northampton-based energy company Infinis wants to erect 20 giant turbines, each 125m high, on nearby farm land.

[...]’

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‘Reivers author “would have fought to save Hermitage” ’, Southern Reporter, 23 October, 2011.
‘Rural rumblings as renewable giant unveils plans for wind farms in unspoilt locations’Southern Reporter, 9 July, 2011.

‘WIND FARM FUELS FRESH FEARS’

The Herald, 11 October, 2011.

‘The south of Scotland will soon be overwhelmed by wind farms after plans were lodged to extend one of the country’s biggest turbine sites, it has been claimed.

‘The move to extend the Clyde Wind Farm by 57 turbines, on a site that straddles both South Lanarkshire and the Borders and is surrounded by Biggar, Abington and Moffat, will see power generated from more than 200 turbines.

Permission was granted for 152 turbines at the site just more than three years ago. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) went back to Holyrood yesterday with its enhanced proposals.

‘If approved, the SSE development will lie less than 10 miles from the Harestanes wind farm at the Forest of Ae, which developers want to extend to 90 turbines.

‘A further 11 turbines are under construction at Glenkeries, near Biggar, with a separate revised application by Wind Energy to build 24 turbines at Earlshaugh close to the geological landmark of the Devil’s Beef Tub, near Moffat, now lodged at the Scottish Government.

‘ The spate of applications and proposals for extensions of existing sites has sparked claims the south of Scotland will be overrun with wind farms.

‘SSE, in its own environmental report into the impact of the Clyde extension, recognised the “large number” of other wind farm developments in the area, that will “result in the turbines becoming common landscape features”.

[...]’

‘ALEX SALMOND’S GREEN ENERGY REVOLUTION “THREATENS FIRMS WITH BANKRUPTCY”’

‘The costs of Alex Salmond’s green energy revolution are “going through the roof” and threaten to bankrupt companies by doubling energy bills, business leaders have warned the First Minister.’

Telegraph, 29 September, 2011

‘The Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) said electricity is currently about nine times more expensive to generate from wind farms than gas-powered plants.

‘Mike Salter, the SCC chairman, told the organisation’s annual dinner that Government energy experts predict greater reliance on “very expensive” renewables will lead to consumers’ electricity bills doubling.

‘He warned this would hold back the Scottish economy and lead to businesses going under. If this is the consequence, he questioned whether Mr Salmond’s “total commitment” to green energy is “misguided”.

[...]’

THE GREAT CRYSTAL RIG RIP-OFF

CONSUMERS FACE £1.2M BILL FOR 12 HR SHUTDOWN

It is reported that Fred Olsen Renewables,the Norwegian-owned company who own the Crystal Rig turbine array in the Lammermuirs, will receive a £1.2 million payment for turning off their turbines for just 12 hours during the recent high winds.¹

They agreed to cease production for eight hours on Saturday 10 September, 30 minutes on Sunday 11 and four hours on Monday 12.

Turbines are anyway forced to shut down when wind speeds exceed around 60 mph in order to prevent damage.

It has been revealed that not one turbine in Scotland produced any electricity on two separate days – August 30 and September 15 – within the past month.²

National Grid is to pay £2.9m in compensation to the 13 windfarms that were out of operation, costs that will be paid by electricity consumers in their bills. The most recent curtailment incident, between Saturday and Tuesday, accounts for more than half the £4.3m paid out during the 12 months up to June.³

High price at Crystal Rig

The Crystal Rig operators demanded some of the highest curtailment prices yet seen in the industry.

National Grid operates a balancing mechanism to balance the network. “Constraint payments” are made to those who agree to stop feeding energy into the grid. Operators are asked to submit bids for how much power they can pull out of the system and at what price. Often, conventional power stations agree to curtail output for little or no cost.⁴

Fred Olsen offered £999 per MWh for shutting down Crystal Rig II. By contrast, Scottish Power has a standard bid price of £180 per MWh, with Scottish and Southern Electric’s standard bid price thought to be £150 per MWh. Generators would normally receive a wholesale price of £40-50 per MWh plus Renewables Obligation subsidy certificates that were worth £45.37 per MWh at the last auction on 31 August.⁵

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¹ ‘Turbines owner to get £1m windfall’, The Herald, 16 September, 2011.
² Renewable Energy Foundation research - REF website.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Balancing Mechanism website.
⁵ e-ROC Online Auction Services.
See also:
‘Cashback as storms knock wind out of turbine sails’, Evening Times, 14 September, 2011.
‘High winds lead UK to halt turbines for 3rd night’, Reuters, 13 September, 2011
Windbyte article below for previous examples of costly wind curtailment this year.

‘THE RAPE OF SCOTLAND’

Struan Stevenson MEP is launching a new book entitled “The Rape of Britain” on the subject of wind farms and the damage they are doing to our environment. This is being launched at this year’s Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on 3 October.

Struan is President of the European Parliament’s Climate Change, Biodiversity & Sustainable Development Intergroup. The two videos below powerfully prersent his argument.

SELLING OFF SCOTLAND:
TURBINES NOT TREES

Partnership for Renewables and Forestry Commission Scotland are currently investigating the possibility of developing two large wind projects in the Borders. The sites are at Cloich Forest and Wauchope Forest.

This is only the early expression of a policy which will eventually see thousand of acres of forest across Scotland cleared for wind development.

The National Forest Estate (NFE) – land owned by the Scottish Ministers and managed by FCS – extends to 665,000 hectares and has the potential to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s renewable energy targets through wind and hydro power generation. The Climate Change (Scotland) Bill will allow Scottish Ministers to modify, by order, the functions of FCS so that it can play a greater role in tackling climate change and form corporate bodies and joint ventures with third parties, including developers and local communities in order to accelerate renewable energy development.
(‘Development Opportunity – Wind Power in Scotland Commercial Negotiation Process’, FCS, 21 October, 2009).

Trees and peatlands, upon which 70% of Scottish turbine parks are built, are considered by many experts to be much more effective than wind turbines in reducing carbon emissions.

However FCS is a directorate of the Scottish Government, and is funded by the Scottish Parliament and directed by Scottish Ministers. As such it is a vehicle for the SNP government’s policy of surrendering Scotland’s landscapes for commercial wind development.

The more cynical would point out that there is more money in turbine subsidies than in arboreal CO2 reduction (trees).

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‘Wind energy projects being explored’, FCS Press Release, 21/01/2010.
‘Development Opportunity – Wind Power in Scotland Commercial Negotiation Process’, FCS briefing paper, 21 October, 2009.
‘Wind and hydro power on the National Forest Estate’, Forestry Commission Scotland website.

JOHN MUIR TRUST - WILD LAND CAMPAIGN

Last year a petition calling for better protection for the best wild land in Scotland attracted nearly 4,000 signatures, it was lodged with the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee in January.

A recent report by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) showed that the proportion of Scotland “without visual influence of built development” fell from 41% in 2002 to 28% in 2009, it fell from 31% to 28% in 2009 alone.

A spokesman for SNH quoted in the Scotsman stated: “The decrease in area unaffected by the visual influence of built development is, in the main, caused by wind turbines. Wind farms are being built rapidly in relation to other forms of development and they are highly visible due to their locations.” *

Now, with the Scottish Parliament back in session the John Muir Trust is asking their supporters to write to MSPs to remind them how how important it is that Scotland’s wild land gets better protection.

There is more on this on the JMT website.

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* ‘Paradise lost - Scotland’s vanishing views’, The Scotsman, 22 February 2011.

‘WIND TURBINES CAUSING TURBULENCE’

Berwickshire News, 10 September, 2011

‘Alarmed about the growing number of wind turbines cropping up across the county Berwickshire Civic Society has formed a special sub-committee to debate their impact on the landscape and heritage, but a number of the points raised by the group have been described as “inaccurate” by Scottish Borders Council.

‘At the group’s first meeting members focused on the spread of turbines from the Lammermuirs to the Merse, particularly the number of current proposals and their possible impact on the welfare, amenity and property values of residents involved.

[...]’

MILITARY RADAR DEAL OPENS THE WAY FOR MORE TURBINE SCHEMES

A deal done between the Ministry of Defence and the wind industry to buy American radar sets may open the way for a new wave of large-scale turbine parks in the Borders.

Applications such as Fallago Rig have been dogged by MOD objections due to problems caused to early warning and threat radars. Moving turbine blades can mimic the signal from aircraft or missiles and could cloak attacks.

The wind industry has now struck a deal to purchase 2 Lockheed Martin TPS-77 3D mobile radars, costing £20 million each. A third, at Trimingham in Norfolk, will be part-funded by DECC, industry and the Crown Estate.

It is reported that the MOD has confirmed that the purchase of a radar set for Brizlee Wood will be announced in the coming weeks, with installation during the next 18 months.¹

This will allow North British Windpower’s 48 turbine Fallago Rig project, on land owned by the Duke of Roxburghe, to be built. It should also unblock other turbine schemes with radar problems in the Borders and Northumberland.

However, it will not only expose the Lammermuirs, which already have huge numbers of operating and consented turbines to yet more applications, but it will will also open up areas that were previously ‘off limits’ due to radar impacts.

The costs of this will, like subsidies and grid strengthening to cope with erratic wind power generation, be passed on to the electricity consumer.

Dr John Constable of the Renewable Energy Foundation said to the Telegraph:

The 27 gigawatts of wind power thought by government to be enabled over the next decade if aviation objections are lifted will cost the electricity consumer approximately £164 billion in subsidy alone over the life time of the wind turbines, around 25 years.

That is a sum nearly five times the annual cost of the entire Ministry of Defence: Army, Navy and RAF combined. Coming at a time of constrained budgets, not least in the MoD, there will be intense and justified questions about the value for money represented by public subsidies on this scale.²

Mark Rowley, who heads the Say No to Fallago campaign, is quoted in the same article as saying:

If even a fraction of the extra schemes are consented, this important gateway to Scotland will become a 21st century Hadrian’s Wall made of 400 foot turbines stretched across some of the finest landscapes in Scotland.

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¹ ‘Three new Lockheed Martin radars could unlock 8GW of wind power’, BusinessGreen, 1 September, 2011.
² Telegraph, 28 August, 2011.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?

‘Public views sought as map of protected landscapes is redrawn after 50 years’

Southern Reporter, 13 August 2011

‘It is nearly 50 years since many mainly upland parts of the Borders were designated areas of great landscape value (AGLV) as a material planning consideration against “inappropriate developments”.

‘But members of the Scottish Borders Council’s planning committee heard this week that some of these zones, totalling more that 115,000 hectares, had become anachronisms and there with little or no written justification behind them.

‘That was certainly the view of the reporter who presided over the region’s local plan inquiry in 2007.

‘He ordered that due to the length of time since the areas were identified in the 1960s and the increase in pressure from development – not least modern phenomena such as wind farms – the council should carry out a review of all existing AGLVs, assessing their desirability and appropriateness.

‘A firm of consultants was engaged in March to carry out the work, based on “robust and justifiable methodology”, the results of which were presented to councillors on Monday.

‘They heard that, henceforth, the protected areas would, in line with guidance from Scottish Natural Heritage and Historic Scotland, be known as special landscape areas (SLAs).

‘The recommendations, which will now go out to 12 weeks of public consultation, identify the following eight SLAs covering a total land area of 110,000 hectares:

‘Tweedsmuir uplands; Tweed Valley; Tweed, Ettrick and Yarrow confluences; Tweed Lowlands; Teviot valleys; Lammermuir Hills; Berwickshire coast; and Cheviot foothills.

‘Some existing AGLVs are considerably smaller than at present including the Cheviot foothills, with the removal of land from Morebattle to the Carter Bar, and the Lammermuirs with the annexing of land to the north-east and south-east, much of which hosts wind farm developments.

‘The Tweedsmuir uplands replaces the existing Tweedsmuir hills and upper Tweeddale AGLV with the Pentland Hills AGLV, to the west of West Linton, removed altogether as it did not score highly enough against the evaluation criteria used by the consultants.

‘But there are also two proposed SLAs which were previous undesignated: the Tweed lowlands – from Kelso to St Boswells skirting Smailholm to the north and Roxburgh to the south – and the Teviot valleys.

[...]’

COMMENT

There seems little point in having any designation, whether it be SLA or AGLV, if industrial wind developers are going to be allowed to trash such areas with turbines.

This review suggests removing the north eastern Lammermuirs from the future SLA designation in the Lammermuirs area:

“Although the LCU UP02 ‘Lammermuir Plateau’ was identified as an area of high quality landscape in the quantitative analysis; the qualitative analysis showed that there was variation within the LCU that meant areas to the east and south east of the Whiteadder Plateau should not be considered as part of a proposed SLA. This was because of the effects of forest planting and wind turbines.” (Table 1, ‘Explanation of difference between AGLV and proposed SLA’, p.36).

In other words, the planners are recognising the fact that the wind industry has succeeded in turning an Area of Great Landscape Value into what they themselves are calling, “a well established wind farm landscape” (‘Community Windpower’, Wester Dod planning application).

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The full review is downloadable from the SBC website.

EAST LOTHIAN - LANDSCAPE CAPACITY STUDY FOR SMALLER TURBINES

East Lothian Council is consulting on their ‘Supplementary Landscape Capacity Study for Smaller Wind Turbines’.

The documents can be downloaded from the ELC website.

‘CALL FOR WIND FARM TO BE “STRANGLED AT BIRTH”

Southern Reporter, 19 August 2011.

‘A campaign has been formally launched to thwart plans for a wind farm of up to 13 turbines at Cummings Hill four miles south of Jedburgh.

‘The Chesters Wind Farm Action Group was formed last week after a meeting of around 20 residents from the Southdean/Chesters area of Roxburghshire.

‘Its members have vowed to fight proposals by a renewable energy company, Infinis Wind Holdings Ltd, for the turbines which would be 100 metres high from base to tip.

[...]’

‘NEW SCOTTISH BORDERS WIND FARM GUIDANCE APPROVED’

BBC News, 17 May 2011.

‘Councillors in the Scottish Borders have approved updated guidance on criteria to be applied to wind farm applications in the region.

‘A number of developments across the area have proved controversial and led to significant opposition campaigns.

‘Now the council has moved to clarify advice offered to wind farm opponents and would-be developers.

‘Planning committee chairman Jock Houston said the guidance “improved and tightened up” previous directions.

‘He said it clarified what criteria developers would need to meet in order to see a wind farm approved.

‘Delicate balancing act’

‘However, he added that it also explained what grounds opponents could cite to seek refusal of a project.

‘Mr Houston said that was part of a delicate balancing act facing the Borders.

‘“Developers obviously go for the places where there is more wind and they can generate more electricity,” he said.

‘“But they are running up against people in the Borders and elsewhere who say: ‘You cannot destroy this tremendous environment which we have inherited’.

“So I think developers will realise it’s going to be harder to convince the planning committee and reporters that they have a valid application.”

‘He said it would also “give comfort” to people who felt the Borders had already made its contribution to renewable energy targets.

‘“Using this guidance we can say there are large areas where there shouldn’t be any more or shouldn’t be any at all,” he said.’

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The submission documents, including consultation responses, are available on the SBC Website.

The GIS constraints mapping will be posted to the SBC website shortly. We are told it will be zoomable and that it will be possible to look at specific layers to identify the various constraints.

LAMMERMUIRS AREA ROUNDUP

AIKENGALL II/WESTER DOD INQUIRY

An inquiry session into landscape and visual impact was held from 27 to 29 June, 2011.

Other matters are being considered via written submissions.

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Further details from Mr Scott Mackenzie, DPEA - E-mail: Scott.Mackenzie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk, Tel. 01342 69462.

BLACKBURN APPLICATION

Volkswind, the German developers, have lodged an application for six 126.5m turbines at Blackburn Farm, near Grantshouse.

They held a single, four-hour exhibition on 31 March at Grantshouse. This continues the trend for minimal public consultation by many wind developers.

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Application documents.
Volkswind website.

BLACKMAINS

German-owned, speculative development company Enertrag are proposing to build seven 125m turbines on a site bordering the A1 and veru close to Reston, Ayton and other settlements.

The company submitted a request to Scottish Borders Council for a Scoping Opinion on 28 June, 2011.

Alemill was previously subject to scoping for a scheme by West Coast Energy for eight large turbines in 2007.

Scottish Borders Council delivered a very negative response to the scoping inquiry at that time on the basis of the probable landscape impacts of eight 100m turbines.*

The local response group, ‘Oppose Blackmains’, have now launched their website, see below.

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Oppose Blackmains website
The 2007 scoping opinion is available on the SBC website.
‘More turbines on horizon?’, Berwickshire News, 14 July 2011.
Enertrag website.

BRUNTA HILL

An application has been submitted by German-owned developer PNE Wind for ten 126.5m turbines at Brunta Hill, on the southern flank of the Lammermuirs.

The site is partially bounded by the Wind Turbine Way (also known as the Southern Upland Way).

Details available online. It is also possible to comment on the application online, see below.

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Response group:
Brunta Hill Action Group (BHAG) - Email BHAG.
Developer website.
SBC Planning Ref.SBC Planning Ref. 11/01444/FUL .
See also: BBC News, ‘Brunta Hill wind farm application submitted’, 20 October, 2011.
‘PNE Wind reveals plan to join UK wind energy gold rush’, BusinessGreen.com, 17 May 2010.
‘Wind turbines just keep on coming’, Berwickshire News, 8 September 2010.
‘Rape of the Lammermuirs’, below.

CRYSTAL RIG III EXHIBITIONS

Natural Power held 2 midweek exhbitions in February for the latest, 11 turbine, extension to the massive, existing Crystal Rig complex of 86 turbines:

With Aikengall I (16 x 125m turbines) and Aikengall II (a Section 36 proposal to the Scottish Government for another 22 x 125m turbines), this proposal would result in a continuous wind farm landscape of 124 turbines.

This is before we even begin to examine the numerous other turbine arrays, built, consented and in planning, in the Lammermuirs and immediate surrounds which will have a cumulative visual impact with the Crystal Rig/Aikengall ‘wind farm landscape’.

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Fred Olsen Renewables website.
Response group: Save The Lammermuirs (STL).

HOPRIGSHIELS

Public consultation on an application by Berwickshire Housing Association for three 125m turbines close to the conservation village of Oldhamstocks will be closing soon.

This application is one of many in what is being described as ‘a tsunami’ of turbine applications on the fringe of the Lammermuirs, it is also one of the worst.

It will be highly visible, is close to the conservation village of Oldhamstocks and has quite a few dwellings in close proximity.

The planning documents are available online, see below.

It is also possible to comment on the application online (closing date: 6 July 2011).

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Scottish Borders Council planning page.

POSTSCRIPT

BHA have announced that they will be seeking to develop a second turbine scheme in the Lammermuirs fringe area.

MONASHEE

RDS Element Power have revived a scheme at Monashee, 3.5 km east of Abbey St Bathans which had been previously scoped and dropped by West Coast Windfarms.

The company are currently proposing seven 110m turbines for the site.

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Response group: Save the Lammermuirs (STL).

PENMANSHIEL - APPLICATION LODGED

Developers RES submitted an application for fifteen 100m turbines at Penmanshiel on 27 October.

Their site borders the 22 turbine Drone Hill array that is under construction near Coldingham, Scottish Borders.

The Drone Hill site was refused locally, following the Planning Officer’s recommendation, before being overturned at appeal by a Scottish Government Reporter

Comments on the Penmanshiel application can be submitted online - see link below.

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SBC Planning Ref. 11/01464/FUL
Developer website.
Drone Hill website

QUIXWOOD

Banks Renewables, part of the private coal mining, property and waste group, have submitted an application for fourteen 125.25m turbines at Quixwood, near Grantshouse.

The application adds to the rash of turbine developments along the A1 corridor and threatens further cumulative degradation of tourist landscapes in the eastern Lammermuirs and of the Southern Uplands Way, which will soon have to be renamed the ‘Southern Uplands Turbine Track’.

Comments on the Quixwood application can be submitted online - see link below.

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SBC Appl. Ref. 11/01662/FUL.
Response Group: Save the Lammermuirs (STL)

LAUDERDALE AREA ROUNDUP

ALLANSHAWS APPLICATION

An application has been made by J G Shanks & Son for nine 100m turbines at Allanshaws (AKA Shaw Park), near Stow.

This application is one several large proposals in the upland area between Stow and Lauder. It is in the same area as the Sell Moor proposal which was refused in 2005.

The planning documents are available online, see below.

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SBC planning application ref. 11/01175/FUL.

BASSENDEAN HILL APPLICATION

An application has been submitted for a 77m turbine at Bassendean Hill Farm, on the other side of the A6089 from the massive Corsbie Moor proposal.

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SBC Planning Ref. 11/01132/FUL.
Community response group:
Lauderdale Preservation Group.

BRUNTA HILL

An application has been submitted by German-owned developer PNE Wind for ten 126.5m turbines at Brunta Hill, on the southern flank of the Lammermuirs, close to Lauderdale.

The site is partially bounded by the Wind Turbine Way (also known as the Southern Upland Way).

Details available online. It is also possible to comment on the application online, see below.

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Response group:
Brunta Hill Action Group (BHAG) - Email BHAG.
Developer website.
SBC Planning Ref.SBC Planning Ref. 11/01444/FUL .
See also: BBC News, ‘Brunta Hill wind farm application submitted’, 20 October, 2011.
‘PNE Wind reveals plan to join UK wind energy gold rush’, BusinessGreen.com, 17 May 2010.
‘Wind turbines just keep on coming’, Berwickshire News, 8 September 2010.
‘Rape of the Lammermuirs’, below.

CATHPAIR - THE FEEDING FRENZY CONTINUES

Lomond Energy, the developers of the Blaewearie and Spurlens schemes, are scoping a proposal for fifteen 100m turbines on the Cathpair Estate immediately adjacent to the Girthgate proposal for twenty 130m turbines near Lauder.

NPower’s massive Rowantree scheme (23 x 125m turbines) is not far away to the north west and there are other operating and planned schemes nearby.

-------------------------

The Cathpair scoping report can be downloaded here (NB large PDF file).

CORSBIE MOOR - APPLICATION IN

E.ON, the German-owned developers of the recently rejected Auchencorth scheme near Penecuik, have now submitted a planning application for 12 wind turbines, each over 400 feet high, across a very large site area near Legerwood. ¹

LOCAL OPPOSITION

Community volunteers carried out an exit poll of those attending E.ON’s exhibitions for Corsbie Moor. The results show the overwhelming local opposition to this scheme: of the Borders residents polled, 11% were in favour, 12% were undecided and 77% were opposed.²

There is another huge scheme proposed nearby: at Brunta Hill, see below. Scottish Borders Council noted, before this, Brunta Hill and a slew of other turbine proposals were announced, that:

...there are major concerns that the potential number of approvals in the Scottish Borders is completely disproportionate to the capacity of the landscape to absorb such developments and if all these proposals were to materialise they would have an adverse cumulative impact on the Borders landscape and its tourism value.³

Scottish Borders has already approved considerably more MW of wind energy power than any other authority per 1000 population. (Ibid).

Scottish Borders already exceeds all targets for renewable energy production as a percentage of consumption. But the feeding frenzy, especially in hotspots such as the Lauderdale area, shows no signs of slowing.

APPLICATION DETAILS

The application documents can be viewed on SBC’s website, where you can also comment on the application.

-------------------------

¹ E.ON’s website.
² ‘Poll blow for wind farms’, Letters, The Southern Reporter, 18 November, 2010.
³ Scottish Borders Local Plan, ‘Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance on Wind Energy’, May 2010. 3.4, p. 13. Available on the SBC website.
Planning documents: SBC website.
Response group: Lauderdale Protection Group.
See our West Ancroft page for the story of another E.ON application (now withdrawn) in Northumberland.

GILSTON (NR. HERIOT)

It is reported that Ridgewind have now lodged an application for their Gilston proposal for seventeen 115m turbines.

The site is close to the existing complex of operating and consented sites at Dun Law.

There are very real concerns at the position of this site in terms of visual impacts, on the edge of the Moorfoot/Lammermuir escarpment, dominating views from the north, and its possible ecological impacts:

The proposed site is adjacent to the Fala Flow SPA and the proposed access track runs through the designated site. The SPA qualifying interest is non-breeding pink-footed goose, a species highly vulnerable to the impacts of wind farm developments. The Gladhouse Reservoir SPA (qualifying interest non-breeding pink-footed goose) is also 14km west of the proposed development. Fala Flow is also designated as a SSSI (blanket bog habitat and non-breeding pink-footed goose) and lies in Midlothian. Significant adverse impacts on the bog habitat, including hydrological impacts should be avoided. (Scoping response).

-------------------------

Developer website.
SBC Scoping Opinion.

‘GIRTHGATE’

‘Community Windpower’, the privately-owned, speculative development company behind the Aikengall schemes, recently held very limited exhibitions (midweek, during working hours) for the Girthgate proposal for twenty 130m turbines on Whitlaw farm, 3 km west of Lauder on the Stow Common road.

-------------------------

Response group: Lauderdale Protection Group.

MUIRCLEUGH - RE-APPLICATION

The application for two 125m turbines on behalf of Lauder Common Good Fund on a site to the east of the Shaw Park/Sell Moor site has been re-submitted.¹

-------------------------

¹ Application Ref. No. 11/01595/FUL.
Response group: Lauderdale Protection Group.

ROWANTREE

The Public Inquiry into this massive scheme (23 x 125m turbines) has been postponed until January, 2012.

OTHER NEWS

BARREL LAW (ASHKIRK)

ABO Wind recently held two exhibitions regarding their Barrel Law proposal just to the south of the consented Langhope Rig site.

Langhope Rig was consented in May 2008 but work has still not started on the ten 121m turbines proposed for the site.

-------------------------

‘New Ashkirk wind farm plan’, Selkirk Weekend Advertiser, Saturday 3 September 2011.

BROADMEADOWS APPEAL REFUSED

The Broadmeadows scheme for eight 112m turbines just west of Selkirk and close to the Southern Upland Way was unanimously rejected by councillors, following the advice of a planning officer, on 13 June, 2011.

The decision was based on the major adverse visual impacts of the turbines and was hailed by local people as a turning point in the protection of Borders landscapes.

The committee agreed that the proposal breached longstanding council policies on landscape protection and also recently adopted special planning guidance on turbine arrays.

The decision followed the dismissal of an appeal by Vattenfall of the refusal of their Minch Moor scheme, two miles to the west of the Broadmeadows site.

At the time Clovenfords Community Council asked that the developer “Go away with good grace” and not appeal the decision.

Needless to say, Vattenfall, the Swedish developers, appealed, putting local communities and Borders Council to yet more trouble and expense.

The appeal was decisively on grounds of its landscape impacts.

-------------------------

‘Joy as reporter blows away appeal over wind turbine plan for Broadmeadows ’, Southern Reporter, 30 January, 2012.
‘Yarrowford wind farm fight back on’, Southern Reporter, 8 October, 2011.
‘Anger at “unfair” rush in wind farm appeal’, Southern Reporter, 3 October, 2011.
‘Wind changes direction to halt “march of the giants”’, Southern Reporter, 18 June, 2011.
‘Broadmeadows seven-year wind farm saga extended’, BBC News, 14 September, 2011.

CLOICH FOREST & WAUCHOPE FOREST

Partnership for Renewables are currently investigating the possibility of developing two large wind projects in the Borders for Forestry Commission Scotland. The sites are at Cloich Forest and Wauchope Forest.

It would seem that FCS, like its southern counterpart, has realised there is more money in turbines than trees.

-------------------------

‘Wind energy projects being explored’, FCS Press Release, 21/01/2010.

CUMMINGS HILL

Infinis (Novera) are investigating the possibility of developing a scheme for thirteen 100m turbines at Cummings Hill, near Chesters, east of Hawick.

There are no details on their website as yet.

EARLSHAUGH - SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL OBJECTS

SBC has joined Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP David Mundell in objecting to this proposal, despite a reduction in its size to twenty-four 125m turbines. ¹

The site is close to the Devils Beeftub, in an Area of Great Landscape Value (AGVL).

Scottish Borders Council first objected to the Section 36 Application in 2008, shortly after the application was lodged with the Scottish Government.

A public inquiry into the scheme is expected in due course.

-------------------------

¹ ‘Scottish Borders Council opposes Beef Tub wind farm bid’, BBC News, 14 November, 2011.
Local response group: (SOS) Save Our Scenery

EASTER HOWLAWS APPROVED

Two 47m (155 ft) turbines were consented on 28 February, 2011 at Easter Howlaws, in the Scottish Borders, despite their proximity to Hume Castle, an ancient monument and Borders landmark.

Shockingly, this was a delegated decision: made by a planning officer not by Councillors.

The decision contravenes guidance in SBC’s own Special Planning Guidance. Section 5.23 of the council’s Draft Wind Energy SPG (now adopted) explicitly identifies Hume Castle as an ancient monument that should be identified as a stage 1 constraint (in accordance with the guidance of PAN 45), that should be protected by a 2km buffer zone. The Planning Officer has seen fit to override this in his decision while acknowledging that the turbines, “ would be relatively prominent within views from Hume Castle”, and that, “The proposed turbines would be clearly visible within views over a distance of 2.5km towards the Castle from the north, east and south (including from a section of the B6364). They would also be relatively prominent within views from Hume Castle looking east.” (Officer’s Report)

Local people and their representatives are also surprised that this decision should have been delegated in view of its importance and when objections had been received from a number of members of the public and from consultees such as Greenlaw and Hume Community Council and the Berwickshire Civic Society.

-------------------------

SBC Planning Ref. 10/01536/FUL.

MINCH MOOR APPEAL THROWN OUT

The appeal by Vattenfall against the refusal of their scheme for twelve 100m turbines on Minch Moor, Scottish Borders, has been rejected.

The scheme, originated by AMEC and subsequently sold to Swedish company Vattenfall, was close to the Southern Upland Way and was widely perceived an especially unsuitable in its insult to the Three Brethren viewpoint and the tourist landscape of the Tweed and Yarrow valleys.

There had been considerable concern in the Borders that the reporter appointed by the Scottish government to consider the appeal had refused to hold a public hearing to examine evidence from the various parties to this appeal.

The decision letter is available on the Scottish Government’s DPEA website.

RINK FARM - LARGE SINGLE TURBINE IN SENSITIVE LANDSCAPE

An application has been lodged for a c. 35m turbine in the sensitive archaeological landscape close to the hill fort and earthwork on Rink Hill, above the Tweed Valley, a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The site overlooks, and will be highly visible from, the Tweed valley at Fairnilee and Sunderland Hall. This is one of the most attractive Tweed landscapes and has high amenity value for residents in the Galashiels and Selkirk area who use the popular Sunderland Hall-Tweed Bridge and riverside footpaths.

This typifies the rash of applications in the Borders for large (over 100 ft) tubines by landowners seeking to exploit generous Feed-in Tariff payments. These are paid from consumer bills:

The FITs scheme, which will provide thousands of individuals, businesses, communities and other organisations with more predictable and higher levels of income than previous schemes have delivered, brings many benefits but also has costs. These are costs that we expect will eventually be passed through to all electricity users through higher bills.
(Government Consultation Response, February 2010).

-------------------------

Application documents are available on the SBC website where it is also possible to comment on the application.

SPURLENS RIG REJECTED

A controversial scheme for six 125m turbines near Leadburn was decisively rejected by Scottish Borders Council on 30 November.

The scheme was found to be contrary to local and regional planning guidance. It was found to have, “a significant adverse impact on the landscape character of the area, including the hills and summits of the Pentland and Moorfoot Hills ranges, the landscape designations and the surrounding countryside.”

The decision letter and other documents are available on the Scottish Borders Website, linked below.

-------------------------

SBC planning ref. 10/01669/FUL.

WELCOME TO THE LAMMERMUIRS

Thousands of acres of what used to be public access land in upland areas are being fenced off behind welcoming signs such as this:

2003 - AN “AREA OF GREAT LANDSCAPE VALUE” (AGLV).
2009 - “ A WELL ESTABLISHED WINDFARM LANDSCAPE” (Aikengall II planning application).
2011 - SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL PROPOSE REMOVING LANDSCAPE DESIGNATION IN N.E. LAMMERMUIRS BECAUSE OF WIND FARMS

The area above Fast Castle and south to St Abbs and Coldingham is the scene for multiple consented farm-scale wind turbines and the huge Penmanshiel proposal for nineteen 100m turbines which itself adjoins the consented scheme for twenty-two 76m turbines at Drone Hill (currently under construction).

The stunning views from Telegraph Hill to the East Lothian coast and the Lammermuirs, and from the Lammermuirs to Fast Castle Head are now lost for generations.

RAPE OF THE LAMMERMUIRS

The Lammermuir Hills are now described by developers as, “a well established wind farm landscape”.

The area is still officially classified as an area of ‘Great Landscape Value’ (AGLV), but it is still under threat despite having had hundreds 100 to 125 metre high turbines built or consented in the ecologically sensitive peatland of this upland landscape.

When developers first applied for ‘only’ 25 turbines at Crystal Rig, many of us naively accepted a proposal that was not close to homes and which was described in 2004 as: “... within a large landscape hidden from the surrounding countryside.”

We were misled.

Applications for another 52 (CR2), then a further 9 turbines (CR2a) soon followed, extending the Crystal Rig complex way beyond the confines of the original site. Not satisfied with that, it has just been revealed (August 2010) that the developers are seeking to shoe-horn in another 9 to 18 125m turbines (‘Crystal Rig 3’).

Against planning advice

After CR2 was approved, a privately owned development company operating under the name of ‘Community Windpower’ applied for 16 more 125m turbines at Aikengall immediately to the east of, and contiguous with, the Crystal Rig I site.

To the huge surprise of local people this scheme was approved, against planning advice and only on the casting vote of the Convenor of the East Lothian Planning Committee. Normally, the Convenor (Chairman) votes according to the the Planning Officer’s advice. Only 5 of the 12 members of the Planning Committee had even bothered to visit the site. This scheme not only dominates the coastal viewshed but also compromises Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s) within the site.¹

The Aikengall site had hardly been commissioned, when ‘Community Windpower’ announced that they were applying to the Scottish Executive for another 30 turbines immediately to the south of Aikengall (Wester Dod/Aikengall II), on the Monynut ridge (since reduced to 22).

A spreading cancer

Recent applications have been met with growing disquiet at the way the planning system is being manipulated. The Lammermuirs are being cynically pillaged by speculative developers who think they have an open ticket on the wind power gravy train.

The Fallago Rig application for 48 turbines in the heart of the Lammermuirs was comprehensively rejected by local people and their representatives, then recommended for refusal by the Reporter (Planning Inspector) following a Public Inquiry and objections by the MOD due to its effects on defence radar.

There were then reports in the press of the Scottish Government’s Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) being sidelined in secret negotiations between Scottish Ministers, the MOD and North British Windpower.² Stories of Ministers staying at the Duke of Roxburghe’s golfing hotel and being entertained at Floors Castle (the Fallago Rig landowner is the Duke of Roxburghe, who owns some 65,000 acres in the Borders) followed.³ A limited re-opening of the Public Inquiry was announced, to consider additional evidence on radar. This was rapidly followed by the discovery that the developers had started work on the site before permission had been granted. ⁴

Finally, with threats of legal action being made, the Public Inquiry was re-opened with a wider remit. The application was finally consented by the Scottish Government on 9 November, 2010.

At times, with feuding aristocratic landowners, carpet-bagging speculators and talk of ‘pork barrel politics’, it has felt like we are living in the southern states of America in the 1920’s rather than the Scottish Borders in 2010.

ENOUGH!

Local people have had enough. A community response group - Save the Lammermuirs (STL) is leading the battle to save what remains of the Lammermuirs from the speculators. Please visit their website and give them your support.

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¹ ‘Eastern Lammermuirs now lost to windfarms’, Berwickshire News, 22 March 2007.
² ‘Growing consternation at Fallago Rig Wind Farm Public Inquiry fiasco’, Berwickshire News, 6 May 2009.
³ ‘Wind farm discussions lead to investigations’, Berwickshire News, 25 November 2009.
⁴ ‘Fallago under fire – again’, Southern Reporter, 12 November 2009.
‘Duke is told to halt work on wind farm - because he hasn't even got planning permission’, The Scotsman, 2 December 2009.

View from Millennium Viewpoint, nr. Longformacus
© Don Brownlow Photography.

‘LAMMERMUIRS NOW AT SATURATION POINT WITH WIND FARMS’

‘Council draws up guidelines for wind farm development’

“We have been proactive in supporting wind farms when appropriate but we are very concerned about the number of proposals we are getting.” Charles Johnston, SBC principal planning officer.

Janice Gillie, Berwickshire News, 12 May 2010.

‘The Scottish Borders approved more MW of wind energy power than any other Scottish authority per 1000 population and the region has Scotland's second highest amount of wind farm electricity generating capacity according to 2008 national figures.

‘Across the region there are currently 163 operational wind turbines, 92 approved but not yet built, 103 pending, 30 refused, 48 (at Fallago Rig) pending appeal and scoping proposals for another 16 wind farms with a combined total of 220 turbines. [The figures have substantially increased since this was written. Ed.]

‘Of the 12 approved wind farm in the Borders, planning officials believe six of them could be expanded, including Crystal Rig to the south.

‘And while to some people it may seem like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, Scottish Borders Council has drawn up guidelines for wind farm development in the region, and the document is now in the public arena for a 12 week consultation period.

‘[...]’

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SBC have taken the very welcome step of making their Wind Farm Database and location maps accessible to the public.

Their map is especially useful in giving the site areas for most proposals.

The wind proposals planning list and location map are both downloadable as PDF files from the SBC website. If the downloaded map does not open properly, click on the size slider to increase or decrease its size, the map should then open properly.

THE SPREADING CANCER

The public are seldom aware of the scale of the wind rush because the construction of schemes lags several years behind consents and most government figures and maps only show operating arrays. Scottish Natural Heritage has updated their valuable wind turbine mapping which shows the footprint (land area) of turbine sites that are being scoped, in planning, consented and operational.

The South Ayrshire planning authority provides a very useful interactive mapping application for southern Scotland. This also shows site footpints and can be zoomed and scrolled to examine specific locations.

Both of these clearly demonstrate the huge spatial footprint of wind turbine arrays. Note: these are just the site areas not the ‘visual footprint’ of turbine schemes (i.e. the area upon which they have a visual impact), which is massively larger.

Whitelee I alone covers an area of 55 sq km, about the size of central Glasgow. It has a headline capacity of 322MW, though in reality it produced only 24% of that in 2009/10. Its output is less than a quarter of that of a single, compact CCGT gas plant (and we will still have to build the gas plant in order to backup the erratic and intermittent production from Whitelee and and all the other wind power stations).

As Sir Martin Holdgate, retired chairman of the Renewable Energy Advisory Group, put it: “The trouble with wind farms is that they have a huge spatial footprint for a piddling little bit of electricity.”

‘POWERFUL CASE AGAINST RENEWABLES STANCE’

The Scotsman, Letters, 27 April 2011

‘NO developed economy can function without a reliable and economic supply of electricity but with present UK policies we have been warned that within a few years there will be a risk of power failures while increases in prices to consumers will rise by more than 50 per cent by 2025.

‘On a standalone basis the situation in Scotland would be even more disastrous. The huge investment required to remedy the neglect and wishful thinking of recent years will require two decades or more to take effect and in the run up to the May elections we urge all political parties in Scotland to put the future of our electricity supplies at the top of their agendas.

‘The pretence that our electricity can in future be supplied from renewables, mainly wind and marine, has gone on too long. These matters are not a question of opinion; they are answerable to the laws of physics and are readily analysed using normal engineering methods. All of these energy sources are of very low concentrations and intermittent; they are and will remain inherently expensive and no amount of development will have more than a marginal effect on this conclusion.

‘Nor can wind and marine energy sources be relied on to provide electricity when it is needed; a recent analysis has shown that for over 30 per cent of the time the output from wind farms has dropped to below 10 per cent of their nominal output and during extremely cold weather has fallen to virtually zero. Furthermore it is unfortunately not correct that marine energy constitutes a vast untapped energy resource on our doorstep; studies (now apparently accepted by government) have shown that at best it could provide only a few percent of our electricity supplies and at costs which, including the necessary back up generation, would be entirely unacceptable to consumers.

‘Fossil fuelled generation (coal or gas) with carbon dioxide capture and underground storage may yet prove a useful technique but it is important to realise that it is an unproven technology on the scale required; that it may never be acceptable to dispose of such huge quantities of gas in underground storage and at present its costs are too uncertain to gamble on its playing a significant part in our forward energy policy.

‘So by all means let us have some wind power, development programmes for other renewables, home insulation programmes, heat pumps etc but let us not pretend that all these taken together will substitute for proven generation sources such as coal, gas and nuclear.

‘And if low carbon is to be the principal driver of energy policy, we can build on Scotland's half century of experience with nuclear, generating some 50 per cent of our electricity requirements, reliably and at low cost.

‘Scotland needs a balanced electricity system which can deliver economic and reliable supplies; we are at the 11th hour and there is now no more time to lose in getting to grips with this task. There can be nothing more urgent on the political agenda.’

Signatories:
Colin Gibson C Eng FIEECCMI Network director National Grid 1993-97)
Prof Ken W D Ledingham FInstP
Prof Colin R McInnes FREng FRSE
Sir Donald Miller C EngFREng FRSE, Chairman ScottishPower 1982-92
Prof Anthony Trewavas FRS FRSE
Prof Jack Ponton FREng FIChemE

‘TURBINES CAST A GROWING SHADOW OVER OUR LANDSCAPE’

Scotsman, Leader, 28 April 2011.

“SCOTLAND bonnie no more: that is the growing concern over the spoilage of our hills and glens by the relentless increase in wind turbines.

“Today mountain walker and commentator Cameron McNeish joins a growing number of experts who fear that plans to create more green energy here is both unsustainable and deeply damaging to the natural beauty for which Scotland is known worldwide.

[...]

“Earlier this year, a report from Scottish Natural Heritage blamed a growing number of wind farms, as well as pylons, for a loss of wilderness. It found that in the past year the amount of land not visually blighted by man-made structures had shrunk by an area 14 times the size of Glasgow. Conservation body the John Muir Trust has also been vocal in its concerns, describing the report as "deeply worrying" and warning that the loss will continue if more large wind developments are approved. This is a concern that must now be addressed.’

‘STUDY SAYS GREEN SECTOR COSTS MORE JOBS THAN IT CREATES’

BBC News, 28 February 2011

‘Government support for the renewable sector in Scotland is costing more jobs than it creates, a report has claimed. *

‘A study by consultants Verso Economics found there was a negative impact from the policy to promote the industry.

‘It said 3.7 jobs were lost for every one created in the UK as a whole and that political leaders needed to engage in “honest debate” about the issue.

‘[...]’

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* Verso Economics, ‘Worth The Candle? The Economic Impact of Renewable Energy Policy in Scotland and the UK’, March 2011. Full report costs £36, the executive summary can be downloaded from the Verso Website.

‘“BONKERS” GREEN ENERGY RISKS POWER SHORTAGES’

‘Scotland is in “serious danger” of suffering power shortages over the next decade thanks to Alex Salmond’s “bonkers” green energy policies, the head of one of the country’s largest generators has warned.

Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor, The Telegraph, 13 Nov 2010.

‘Rupert Soames, chief executive of Aggreko, said Scotland’s lights will be “perilously close” to going out because a huge proportion of existing coal, oil and nuclear power stations are due to shut down over the next eight years.

‘He accused politicians of “holding hands and singing Kumbaya to the great green God” but warned the reality is it will be many decades before renewable energy can plug the gap left by traditional sources of power.

‘Unless Mr Salmond ends his ‘wishful thinking’ and draws up alternative plans, Mr Soames warned Scotland will be in “deep trouble” by 2018.

‘[...]’

DON’T MENTION THE PEAT PROBLEM!

‘Greenhouse gas threat from wind farms on peatland goes unchecked’

By Jenny Fyall, The Scotsman, 12 June 2010.

‘Damaging wind farms that unleash carbon dioxide from the soil are being permitted in Scotland because no government body is equipped to advise on the impact of building on peatland, The Scotsman has learned. Peat bog has been described as “Scotland’s rainforest” because it stores huge quantities of the greenhouse gas , which is released into the atmosphere if the peat is disturbed.

However, council planning teams in Scotland have been unable to get advice on the damage individual wind farms will do, because of a lack of anyone with the necessary expertise.

Documents seen by The Scotsman reveal that neither the Scottish Government, the country's environment watchdog the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, nor Scottish Natural Heritage, can provide informed advice on the issue.

Environmental groups have said they think it “extraordinary” that such an important issue has been neglected and there have been calls for a moratorium on wind farms on peatland until the issue is resolved.

Planning officials at Shetland Islands Council tried to get advice on the likely impact on peat of the 150-turbine Viking Wind Farm, which, if built, would be the largest onshore wind farm in Europe.

However, they came up against a brick wall.

A reply from David Liddell, a planning official at the Scottish Government, said: “Sorry, but not aware of a particular source of expertise on the carbon accounting query.”

In what the Shetland Council staff member, Hannah Nelson, then described to colleagues in an e-mail as a “surprising response”, Mr Liddell added: “Given that government (and also government planning) policy is in favour of wind and other renewables, I wouldn’t encourage you to query the carbon benefits of wind farms.”

‘[...].’

Helen McDade, head of policy at the John Muir Trust, said: “I think it’s extraordinary that there is nobody available with the necessary expertise. It seems to be a case of see no evil, hear no evil.”

“How on earth are local councils supposed to know what to do? It’s absolutely urgent that something is done about this.”

She believes wind farms that damage peat bogs have already been granted permission in Scotland.

‘[...].’

‘Uplands inquiry disputes ‘greenness’ of turbines’

Wales Online, 6 April 2010. (Article on a Report prepared for the Welsh Assembly).

‘[...].

‘Both Environment Agency Wales and the Countryside Council for Wales pointed out that turbines have been built without any thought to the effect on carbon storage – and are now allowing carbon that has long been locked away to be released from the land.

‘Forestry Commission Wales confirmed that no assessment had been made of the impact of the Welsh Assembly Government’s policy of using national forest estates for wind turbines on the carbon stored in the uplands.

‘And no-one knew who was responsible. The Forestry Commission indicated that it was the planning authorities, but Environment Minister Jane Davidson suggested that it was the responsibility of the developer.

‘The report expressed concern that no-one accepted overall responsibility and called on the WAG to carry out the assessment, and for soil carbon management to become a central consideration in the current review of TAN8 – the policy that defines areas suitable for wind turbines.

‘It also called for a ban on forestry and wind turbines on deep peat “in order to ensure maximum environmental benefit in future”.

‘CPRW director Peter Ogden called for an immediate moratorium on any further wind schemes proposed in upland areas with deep peat.

[...].’

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S WIND RUSH

Hundreds of people representing wind farm protest groups from all over Scotland gathered in Edinburgh on Wednesday, 16 March, to demonstrate the growing opposition to the speculative wind rush that is damaging their landscapes and communities.

Groups from the Borders to Caithness were represented in the sea of banners that were carried in the march from the Princes Street to Holyrood.

The protest ended outside the Scottish Parliament where hundreds of letters adressed to the First Minister were handed in and a rousing chorus of “Scotland is not for sale” was heard.

LOSS OF WILD LANDSCAPES

It is perhaps ironic that the march passed by the ‘living wall’ of the Scottish Parliament on Canongate which bears a plaque with the following inscription:

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
(Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889), 'Inversnaid').

The SNP government has encouraged the greatest loss of wild landscapes in the modern era.

A recent report by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) showed that the proportion of Scotland “without visual influence of built development” fell from 31% to 28% in 2009 alone.

This drop was far more rapid than in previous years.

A spokesman for SNH quoted in the Scotsman blamed the accelerating decline on wind turbines: “The decrease in area unaffected by the visual influence of built development is, in the main, caused by wind turbines,” said a spokesman for SNH. “Wind farms are being built rapidly in relation to other forms of development and they are highly visible due to their locations.” *

To quote some lines from the Bard that do not appear on the Parliament wall:

What force or guile could not subdue
Thro’ many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling traitor’s wages.
(Robert Burns, ‘Sic a parcel of rogues’).

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* ‘Paradise lost - Scotland’s vanishing views’, The Scotsman, 22 February 2011.

SCOTTISH BORDERS & LOTHIANS - SOME LOCAL RESPONSE GROUP WEBSITES:



• Association to Protect the Environment at Leadburn (APEAL). - Group formed to oppose a proposal to build five 125m turbines at Spurlens Rig, between the Pentland and Moorfoot Hills, just south of Leadburn.



• Oppose Blackmains. Group opposing proposal by Enertrag for seven 125 metre (410 ft.) turbines on a site botdering the A1, near Ayton and Reston.



• Broadmeadows Action Group - Group opposing proposals by GreenPower for thirteen 112 metre (367 ft.) turbines near Yarrowford. Rejected at appeal in January, 2012.



• Dunion Hill Conservation Group - Group which opposed the proposal by Windjen for eight 101m turbines on Dunion Hill and Black Law near Jedburgh. Refused by SBC (10/9/07) and at appeal (9/04/09) - first refusal on appeal in SBC area.



• LPG - Lauderdale Preservation Group - Group formed, “to preserve the existing quiet rural character of the area, to oppose the construction of large scale wind power stations, with particular initial reference to the proposed site on Corsbie Moor and Legerwood, but to encourage sympathetic renewable energy developments.”



• NPWAG - North Pentlands Windfarm Action Group - “We are a group of residents from West Lothian and South Lanarkshire who are concerned about the growing number of wind farms in these areas, and the effect they are having on people, wildlife, our landscape and environment, and our livelihoods.”



• Penicuik Environment Protection Association (PEPA). - “Formed by residents of Penicuik, Carlops and Howgate communities to protect Auchencorth Moss near Penicuik from E.ON’s proposal to build 18 x 2.5 MW wind turbines.” Scheme rejected at appeal.



• Protect Your Cheviots. - Opposing a proposal by Vattenfall to build six 110m turbines at Whitton Loch, near Morebattle. This scheme, on the edge of the Cheviot Hills, would blight a treasured Borders landscape and marr views from Carter Bar, the Pennine Way, St Cuthbert’s Way, Peniel Heugh and Rubers Law, and would be highly visible from areas of the Merse and the Tweed Valley.



• SABEL - Sustain a Beautiful East Lothian - Group formed in response to the rash of planning applications for 25 metre plus turbines in rural East Lothian.



• Scottish Borders Against Windfarm Saturation (SBAWS). - Group opposing the RWE NPower proposal for twenty three 125m turbines at Rowantree, near Stow.



• SOS - Save Our Scenery (Earlshaugh windfarm) - “Save Our Scenery is a campaign group established in May 2008 in response to an application by Wind Energy (Earlshaugh) Ltd to put 36 wind turbines - each over 400 ft high - in a site between the Devil’s Beef Tub, Hartfell and the source of the River Tweed.”



• Save the Lammermuirs - Group fighting further damage to the Lammermuir Hills with huge turbine arrays, particularly Aikengall II, a proposal for another twenty two 145m turbines on the Monynut ridge.
  The 125m turbines of Aikengall 1, the eighty five 100/110m turbines at Crystal Rig (another 9 to 18 are planned) and the twenty two 78m turbines at Black Hill, near Duns, have already resulted in the Lammermuirs being described as “a windfarm landscape” by developers.