Minch Moor appeal 'coming'

Ally McGilvray • Published 10 Aug 2010 15:26 3 Comments

CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a wind farm at one of the Borders' best known beauty spots have been thrown out this week - despite a last-gasp bid by developers to have the decision delayed.

Swedish firm Vattenfall Wind Power - one of Europe's leading energy companies - applied to Scottish Borders Council for permission to build 12 turbines at Minch Moor near Innerleithen. It included plans to fell more than 300 hectares of forest.

However, after a local planning officer recommended the plans for refusal due to visual impact, the developers appealed for more time to address concerns.

That plea was ignored by councillors on the local authority's planning committee, who had earlier visited the site, which straddles the Southern Upland Way - the country's only coast to coast footpath. And, on Monday, they unanimously rejected the plans.

Welcoming the announcement this week, local Councillor Gavin Logan said: "We all support wind farms in the right place. This clearly is the wrong place and wind farm developers should think more carefully before they scatter planning applications around our Borders like confetti."

The meeting heard the turbines, which could produce up to 28MW of electricity, would be seen from as far apart as Selkirk, Cardrona, Innerleithen and Traquair, if the plans were approved.

And concerns were raised over the cumulative impact of building the development so close to the wind farm at nearby Broadmeadows.

"It is clear from the correspondence over the years that there has been significant concerns about the environmental impact of this proposed wind farm development and I share these concerns," Councillor Logan continued.

"There is a growing body of literature that suggests that we consistently underestimate the effects of wind farms on birds and other forms of wildlife. The popular osprey watches at Kailzie and Glentress are testament to an important tourist attraction.

"However, I agree with the officer's main reason for rejecting this application has to be the cumulative visual impact and importantly the impact on this particular landscape.

"The Southern Upland Way passes very close to the proposed wind farm site and is a major tourist attraction in this part of the Borders. The construction period will take over a year and will have hugely detrimental effect on tourist based businesses in Walkerburn and Innerleithen. Local hotels, B&Bs, self catering establishments and other tourist based businesses are holding their own at this difficult time. Any recovery to this disruption to their trade will take years. Some may not survive

"Most visitors to this part of the Borders come to enjoy our hills and scenery. The report has described very well the cumulative and sequential impact this proposal will have. The last thing hill walkers, bikers and pony trekkers want to see when they come to enjoy the remoteness and beauty of this part of Tweeddale and the Yarrow Valley is 12 industrial structures planted in around 700 acres of clear felled forestry."

It is unclear whether the applicant intends to appeal the decision. However, Berwickshire Councillor Jim Fullarton, pointed out the Scottish Government had overturned previous decisions on wind farm applications, despite concerns over the impact they could have on the local landscape. He said: "I can see an appeal coming and these stupid government targets being used as a defence."

But Hawick Councillor George Turnbull argued that government targets were "not stupid" and were put in place to protect future generations.

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• 

  Pust
  Unregistered User
  Aug 11, 17:20
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  George Turnbull should examine the efficacy of large scale power generation in other countries before pontificating about future generations.
  
  If he looks at the figures, he will see that the country with the best record on carbon emissions reductions and consumer prices is France and that is directly down to the fact that they generate some 78% of their electricity from nuclear power stations.
  
  Indeed, looking closely at countries such as Denmark, Germany and Spain it is difficult to detect any significant effect from wind power generation on their carbon emissions. (It is easy to detect the effect on electricity prices!).
  
  The experience in most countries with large wind capacity is the need for high levels of backup and the inefficient use of thermal power stations to back up wind, resulting in higher CO2 emissions.
  
  The German Greens said that wind power would substitute for nuclear and most of their coal-fired capacity. It hasn't - with a massive 23,000MW of installed wind capacity, they are prolonging the life of nuclear plant, have built large numbers of new gas power stations and are actually building more coal-fired stations in the attempt to stabilise their grid.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

• 

  DavidA
  1 post
  Aug 11, 20:47
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  The Borders isn't a dumping ground for the Scottish Governments 'Targets', shove it up to the highlands and call them something Gaelic.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

• 

  AgentGreer
  3 posts
  Aug 24, 20:01
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  I've just looked at an SBC consultation document [SBC draft SLG May 10] on the wind industry intended to be used as supplementary planning guidance.
  
  SBC themselves voice concern on cumulative impacts and the proliferation of applications which (in their view) could have a detrimental impact on tourism and local ecology. There's an interesting table in the document that shows The Borders has the (second) highest wind generating capacity of all Scottish local authorities; South Lanarkshire occupies the #1 spot. There are some 4.5MW of generating capacity in The Borders, that includes built and consented per 1000 population. Aberdeen, on the other hand, has zero. Even the windiest place in the known universe, Orkney, only has 0.1MW/1000 population.
  
  Something is well out of order here. Its all very well for urban areas (Edinburgh, Aberdeen) to claim you can't put turbines near large urban settlements but this simply isn't true. Fly in to Amsterdam or Rotterdam and you'll see loads of turbines in commercial urban areas. It's really past time that the Borders stopped playing the victim here and some of the order authorities took up the reins. 'Nuffs enuff.
  
  Better still, move on from this archaic technology, but I don't suppose there's much chance of that since the politicians have bought into it.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

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