Comhairle surrenders to MoD over Uist turbines 13/2/14
Before it has hardly started, Western Isles councillors have agreed to give up the fight to protect the Uist community from the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) stopping islanders from building small wind turbines.
The MoD cites the potential impact to the North Uist radar station as well as on the rocket range in its consistent stream of objections against people erecting turbines.
Recently, the council awarded planning permission for a small number of applications in Bornish and Frobost but the MoD are challenging this in court.
Planning councillors have now decided not to oppose the judicial review in the Court of Session.
The public were banned from Tuesday’s closed doors committee when the decision was taken.
The u-
SNP group leader Donald Manford plans to make a motion against the u-
Mr Manford highlighted: “The Court of Session has no remit to determine planning applications and can at worst only set aside, or quash, our initial decision and send the applications back to the Comhairle to reconsider and to determine in accordance with the provisions of the development plan and our extant adopted supplementary guidance unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
“There is no requirement in the legislation for the disadvantaged applicants to apply for permission again as their extant application will not have been determined should the Court of Session quash our decisions.
“Can we all be assured by the administration of this Authority that these applications will be fairly evaluated by our planning officers against our development plan and extant adopted supplementary guidance in the unfortunate event that the Court of Session rules against our earlier decisions? “
He says the “Comhairle has apparently lost control” of its legal duty to determine islanders’ planning applications appropriately.
He wants to council to pledge “that in the event that it is necessary to consult with the MoD in respect of wind turbine applications by virtue of some legislative measure that we have not been made aware of by the administration of this authority that the planning service will expedite the determination of all wind energy applications immediately after the statutory 14 day period afforded to the consultees to submit a consultation response has expired in the interests of equitable fairness to those constituents we all represent?”