DISCUSSIONS over controversial plans for more than a dozen 200m wind turbines in the Lammermuir Hills take place this week.

Fifteen turbines with a maximum tip height of 200m and a further two turbines measuring up to 180m in height are planned for Newlands Hill, south-east of Gifford.

A decision on the scheme will be taken by the Scottish Government in the coming months.

Any proposal to construct, extend or operate an onshore electricity generating station with a capacity of 50MW or more is decided upon by Scottish Ministers and processed by the Energy Consents Unit (ECU).

Discussions have already taken place at community councils in Garvald and Morham, Gifford, and Haddington.

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Now, Lammermuir SOS, a small group of East Lothian residents, is encouraging people to attend a meeting taking place in Gifford Village Hall on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the group stressed that they were in favour of “sensible measures to transition away from fossil fuels to ‘greener’ energy”.

They said: “Lammermuir SOS has been going since Christmas 2022.

“We started with a few letters to the Courier but we have been galvanised into action since November 30, 2023, when Belltown Power finally published their planning application for Newlands Hill.

“It comprises 17 turbines up to about 200 metres high and a battery storage unit.

“For many reasons, we are against this proposal to site these huge turbines on the top of the Lammermuir skyline, where they will be seen from up to 50 miles away.

“There are a host of other reasons, which is why we have launched our campaign to make everyone in East Lothian aware of the potential impact of this planning application, if it is granted consent.”

READ MORE: Seventeen wind turbines up to 200m tall planned for Lammermuirs site

The meeting, which gets under way at 7.30pm, will look at the background to the application, as well as attempting to answer any questions on Belltown Power’s project.

A planning application, featuring more than 225 documents, is currently with East Lothian Council.

The local authority will provide a response to the application to the Scottish Government.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “Electricity generating stations encompass a range of technologies, including wind turbines, thermal generation and solar arrays.

“In addition, the Scottish Government considers that a battery energy storage system is to be treated as a generating station.

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“The ECU consults East Lothian Council on all Section 36 applications within East Lothian.

“Additionally, the council may be consulted on applications that are not within East Lothian but where the ECU thinks that it may impact on the authority area.

“Where the council objects to the granting of consent for a generating station within its area, a public inquiry must be held.”