Chamber and committees

Nigel A R Willis submission of 28 June 2021

PE1864/EEEE - Increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore windfarms

Please note my complete agreement with this petition presented by Aileen Jackson on behalf of Scotland Against Spin.

There are many examples of windfarms being approved by Councils and the Scottish Government Ministers even when the areas are not included as appropriate in various Scottish Council’s government approved Local Development Plans. I believe that this is a fundamentally wrong practice.

I have been involved in a number of Public Local Inquiries (PLIs) in my capacity as chairman of the Save your Regional Park campaign (SYRP) and others as an interested / concerned member of the public in both Aberdeenshire and Sutherland. SYRP was set up in 2006 because of the start of many attempts to ‘industrialise’ Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park (CMRP). Our objectives were to protect CMRP and the other 2 Regional Parks, from inappropriate industrial development including windfarms.

Participating in PLIs has been a real ‘eye opener’ and something needs to be done to give more support to local and other people doing their level best to support local feelings with relevant reasons and concerns for opposing applications. I have not met any member of the public who has participated in PLIs that does not feel that they are treated unreasonably badly by the developer’s team. In particular the solicitors can be very aggressive or totally dismissive and their attitude is expected to be ‘picked up’ by their so-called expert witnesses and even the Reporters.

‘Aggressive’ and ‘dismissive’ are equally unacceptable particularly to people or organisations which are ‘relevant people’ (RPs) who have spent a huge number of hours / weeks / months of unpaid voluntary work wading through volumes of digital and hard copy information and preparing all the necessary documentation for their case which then has to be widely distributed digitally and in hard copy form.

There is absolutely no doubt that the way the system works at present in Scotland favours the developer and the English system is much fairer by necessitating developers to stick to geographical areas recommended for windfarms in approved Local Development Plans (LDPs). I believe that this should be adopted by Scotland.

The onus on individuals or voluntary organisations, particularly those involved as RPs has become so involved and burdensome that they really need legal assistance before and during PLIs and some method of recovering participation costs from the government or the developer. I believe that the latter should apply where an application is not in an area designated as appropriate in agreed LDPs.

Please take these considerations into account when reviewing this petition.