Community wind farm rejected by planning inquiry 10/10/14
Permission for a community wind farm for North Uist has been refused following a planning inquiry.
Profits from the two 900kw turbines were estimated at £5.2 million over the next twenty years which would have revitalise the ailing North Uist economy.
A wind turbine proposed for the Dark Island Hotel on Benbecula -
An inquiry into the proposal agreed with the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) stance that military radars based at the South Uist rocket range and at St Kilda would be affected by the turbines.
The MoD says the rotating blades create extra clutter and interference making it more difficult to tell the difference between individual turbines and planes in addition to reducing the ability to track the unknown aircraft.
All turbines had been backed by Western Isles councillors though planning officers strongly warned they risked being rejected at any inquiry as they would have an unacceptable adverse impact on defence systems.
Last week, the council refused permission for three similar turbines in South Uist
on such grounds -
Comhairle leader Angus Campbell said: “Given the MoD’s stated position regarding further new turbines in areas visible to radar on the Uists, the decisions are not altogether surprising.
“The delay in the decision making process to get to this point has certainly been frustrating for the developers concerned, the communities affected and indeed for Comhairle members.
“From today, I seriously hope that we can work with the MOD to identify areas where wind turbine development can be accommodated and continue to investigate the possibilities of mitigation or measures that can allow development of the radar constrained areas for the future.
“I would expect the Scottish Ministers assistance to facilitate these discussions with the MOD.”
Kenneth Murray, chair of the Comhairle Environment and Protective Services Committee said: “The decisions taken by the Scottish Ministers are contrary to the wishes of my committee.”
However he pointed out the refusal is “consistent with the advice given by our planning officials.”
He added: We now have to move on and ensure that we all do what we can to ensure that we do not find ourselves in long protracted planning decisions making processes again.
“We are in the position now that requires affected communities to carefully plan turbine proposals where there is the least constraint, as there seems to be no immediate fix to the impacts of Turbines on MOD radars.”
Objections from the powerful MoD overrule the economic and social benefits for the community which concerns Western Isles Council which is frustrated at what it called the “almost automatic objections” to virtually all planning applications for wind turbines on North and South Uist as well as Benbecula.
The MoD previously prevented Scottish Water from building 12 turbines at its treatment plants across Uist.