Windfarm row

Crofters’ David and Goliath dispute over windfarm rights

18 July 2017

A group of crofters are set to go to the Scottish Land Court in an attempt to develop a community windfarm.

Sandwick North, Sandwick East Street and Melbost grazings committees say their plans to build turbines on their own common grazings are being blocked by

Lewis Wind Power (LWP) is a joint venture between Amec Foster Wheeler and EDF Energy Renewables. It also owns the rights to the Eishken windfarm giving it a combined total of 342 megawatt capacity on Lewis.

Each group propose making separate applications to the land court for their projects to take precedence over the other.

Community turbines are a better deal for the local economy by more income reinvested into the islands, more local supply content, significantly more jobs, and much greater development of community skills, enterprise and confidence, maintain the villagers.

They want Angus MacNeil to raise the issue with UK energy minister Richard Harrington, calling on the MP to support crofting shareholders in “exercising their rights to develop their community turbines on their own common grazings and to join us in opposing any attempt to impose corporate turbines on our grazings without the consent of the shareholders.”

Angus MacNeil is meeting with the energy minister today in a bid to persuade him to reverse a ban over subsidies to new offshore windfarms.

Without the financial assistance - called "contracts for difference" - no further turbines are likely to be erected in Lewis with the knock-on effect of killing off plans for a subsea cable which in turn is required to export electricity to mainland markets.

Mr MacNeil highlighted his meeting is “focusing on the upstream issue.”

He stressed: “Unless we have "contracts for difference" any disagreements that people have further downstream about how or who develops windfarms is academic

The MP added: “Of course, if we do get contracts for difference then we would need to see what community benefits can be achieved and indeed what people define as communities and how the benefits would be shared across islands and communities.”

Though the three villages are located east of Stornoway, they have historic legal rights to moorland on the other side of town, off the old Achmore single track road area.

They highlight they hold a legal right to build turbines on the land, pointing out community-owned renewable developments reinvest vastly more profit per turbine locally.

Landowner, the Stornoway Trust, would receive equal rent for the community turbines as from the corporate giant.

“Our three new community wind farms will provide an additional £150 million in investment” with the same employment and supply chain benefits as LWP, reads a letter they sent to the MP

“Unlike corporate wind farms, all the profit from our developments will go back into the community and benefit the whole of the Western Isles.”

Lewis Wind Power would retain 242 MW across two sites in Lewis - a figure which is nearly double its original ambitions for Lewis and “clearly more than sufficient to achieve their corporate profit aspirations,” say villagers.

Lastly, they emphasise the point that the only way the Conservative government said it would relax a ban on building onshore windfarms is after hard evidence of direct benefit to local communities.

“The greater the level of community ownership, the greater the benefit to local communities, and therefore the stronger the case for government support for remote island wind,” stresses the letter.

It continues: “Our shareholders have made overwhelmingly and democratically clear their wish to exercise their rights to develop their own community turbines.

“This must now be respected by LWP, the landowner and the government.

“We look to you as our MP to represent our rights on this crucial matter of principle which is of such significance for our communities and our islands.”