Anger at revised wind farm extension
Kirsty Gibbins • Published 15 Jul 2010 09:29
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CAMPAIGNERS against a controversial move to expand Aikengall Wind Farm in the Lammermuirs have accused the company behind the plans of trying to avoid a public inquiry by cutting the number of proposed wind turbines.
Community Windpower Ltd had previously proposed building 30 wind turbines - 22 in East Lothian and eight in the Borders - with a ground to blade tip height of 145 metres straddling the two local authority areas at a site to the south-east of the existing 16-turbine Aikengall Community Wind Farm, operational since March 2009.
When consulted by the Scottish Government on the plans, Scottish Borders Council objected to the extension, while East Lothian Council backed the project, though requested that particular attention be paid to the visual impact the proposed windfarm will have on the Oldhamstocks Conservation Area, and the background noise level produced by the turbines.
As the proposed extension would have a headline capacity of more than 50 megawatts (MW) Government ministers will make the final decision on the application.
Now Community Windpower has submitted revised plans that remove the eight proposed turbines in the Borders, which protesters claim is an underhanded tactic by the wind energy company to try and avoid a Public Inquiry that would have likely occurred in light of the Borders' local authority's objection.
Despite repeated requests for comment by the Courier, Community Windpower Ltd had failed to release a statement at the time of going to press.
The Scottish Government is now once again inviting members of the public and interested parties to make representations on the proposed wind farm - which would have an installed capacity of up to 79.2MW with 22 turbines of up to 145-metres in height. Representations previously made remain valid though East Lothian Council has been contacted by the Scottish Government and asked to comment on the revised plans.
A spokesperson for the Save the Lammermuirs campaign group said: "We are in discussions with East Lothian Council about what appears, from theinformation currently available to us, to be potentially a very controversial breach of process: this huge planning application was formally opposed by Scottish Borders Council.
"At that point, the two options open to the Scottish Government were either to turn down the whole application for once and for all or alternatively to hold a Public Inquiry.
"What we're hearing now is that Community Windpower and the Scottish Government may be trying retrospectively to alter the planning application, through behind the scenes collaboration, by removing the turbines which were to be on Scottish Borders land and thereby attempting to fix the process and avoid a Public Inquiry.
"The Save The Lammermuirs position on this, if it's true, is that this would obviously be completely wrong both ethically and legally, it would be highly controversial, and it would almost certainly trigger some serious and costly litigation for the taxpayer."
Another critic of the plans, Mark Rowley, vice-chairman of Cranshaws, Ellemford & Longformacus Community Council and spokesperson for the neighbouring anti-wind farm group, 'Say No To Fallago', also accused Community Windpower of attempting to dodge a public inquiry.
"Wester Dod is a particularly intrusive and brutal windfarm scheme. Located high on a ridge above East Lothian and the Lammermuirs, it would blight both, introducing the tallest turbines in Scotland to a sensitive landscape that is an Area of Great Landscape Value.
"The developers clearly don't have the confidence to expose their misguided proposals to the open and fair examination of a Public Inquiry before a Government-appointed Reporter and so are seeking to avoid that by any means possible. Strangely the government seem to be doing everything possible to help them.
"Scottish Borders Council's objection to this scheme in February should have triggered an automatic Public Inquiry, but now the Scottish Government are trying to help the Cheshire-based developers steamroller an altered proposal through in record time allowing less than a month for consultation - at a time when many who work in the country are at their busiest and others are on holiday."
"With other recently consented schemes adjacent to the A1- East Coast mainline at Brockholes & Coldingham, expansion of Crystal Rig and schemes proposed at Dunbar, Kinnegar, Skateraw and Penmanshiel, the main route into East Lothian may soon be characterised by windfarms - undoubtedly many visitors will choose to pass on through rather than stop in a blighted landscape."
This article appeared in East Lothian Courier 15 Jul 10
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Jul 20, 10:10
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mHaseler
Unregistered User
Jul 20, 10:11
Report commentThe globe hasn't warmed this century, and even that fact is acknowledged even in the climategate emails where they say: "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't" (Trenberth, K. E., 2009)
Their claims are horrendously exaggerated and just don't stand the test of time:
QUOTE
According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".
"Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said.
ENDQUOTE (Independent 20 March 2000)
So why are we still putting up these monstrous bird mincers?
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Vindblaff
8 posts
Jul 21, 16:43
Report commentThe directors & shareholders of Community Windpower are Diane and Roderick Wood of Northwich, Cheshire. CW owns Dalry Community Wind Company Ltd.
The company’s first wind farm, of only 6 turbines at Dalry, North Ayrshire, was commissioned in 2006; the Sunday Times reports that Dalry Community Wind Company Ltd "made a £2.5m profit on £4.5m sales" in 2008:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6968333.ece
The Carbon Trust explains:
"Combined with the buy out payments (which are re-circulated), the extra revenue from ROC sales effectively doubles the income for renewable generators. Together with annual increases in the RO target, this drives investment in new renewable capacity.
"The cost of the Renewables Obligation is ultimately borne by energy users, as it is recouped by suppliers via higher energy prices."
Put more colloquially:
"It's a bonanza. Anyone who can get their nose in the trough is trying to." (Peter Atherton, head utilities analyst at Citi Investment Research, quoted in the Financial Times).
"Without the renewable obligation certificates nobody would be building wind farms." (Paul Golby, Chief Executive of E.ON UK , Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2005).
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innycott
Unregistered User
Sep 6, 05:06
Report commentHi,
I am not surprised by what is happening to you, you should never have let Community Wind build their first wind farm near you . We have just spent several years fighting CWL and we have only won because they could not get round a Radio/radar problem and a RSPB objection. The fact that it sat in a fabulous part of Bodmin moor did not mater it seems as our planning committee or most of its members seemed mesmerised by CW and ignored everything we showed them, this ranged from an environmental report riddled with lies about the flora and fauna, noise measurements, dodgy visuals,mitigation,jobs ect. They called their project Davidstow community Wind Ltd but Davidstow did not want and had no part in their plans they were opposed by about every statuary consultee even Friends of the earth but somehow they overturned a previous refusal and against the planning officers recommendation they got permission subject to the mitigation of RSPB and NATS objections. Luckily they could not get round the problems and were finally refused. The whole story of all the tricks they tried and lies they told would fill a book. You have been warned.
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