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NUDC reaffirms commitment to renewable energy plans

November 17, 2014

NUDC recently has plans to erect two community turbines rejected.

NUDC recently has plans to erect two community turbines rejected.

North Uist Development Company (NUDC) is pressing ahead with plans to harness renewable energy for community benefit.

This is in spite of the recent decision by the Scottish Government to refuse planning permission for NUDC’s flagship project, on account of an objection from the MoD. That project would have seen the erection of two wind turbines at Clachan, delivering £200,000 into the community annually for 15 years, increasing to more than £450,000 in the project’s later years.

“Our remit and purpose is to secure economic development in North Uist and Berneray, so we intend to work together with the Comhairle, the MoD and other stakeholders to find ways of achieving our goals and making North Uist a better, more attractive place to live and work,” said Robert Fraser, chair of NUDC.

“We believe the decision that emerged from the planning process on this occasion was wrong, and we reject entirely the notion that our project could not, through appropriate management, coexist with the operation of MoD’s radar. Nonetheless, we recognise we cannot continue to contest this point, and our main concern is to get the parties together to find a way forward.”

NUDC directors have been involved in a programme of meetings since the publication of the planning decision. These meetings have involved Alasdair Allan MSP, senior members and officers of the Comhairle, Community Energy Scotland and Local Energy Scotland. Urgent meetings are also being sought with Derek MacKay, Minister for Local Government and Planning, and Fergus Ewing, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism. Meanwhile, Angus MacNeil MP is to be asked to raise the issue with the MoD. It is hoped that by bringing political pressure to bear at the highest level, the MoD will agree to get involved in problem-solving with the local community.

A heartening aspect of the report that went to the Scottish Government, which informed its decision, was that the fragility and pressing needs of North Uist were well-recognised, particularly with regard to population decline and lack of employment and training opportunities. Although frustrated by the conclusions of the report, which NUDC believes favoured the MoD’s objection, the company nonetheless believes that the recognition of local needs, which the report embodies, will now act as a powerful lever with government in helping North Uist gain the support it needs.

North Uist is now the only area of the entire Western Isles which is not able to raise its own community funds, despite NUDC having worked on its renewable project for six years. NUDC welcomes the recent press comments from Donald John MacSween, chair of the Point & Sandwick Development Trust in Lewis, about spreading the £1m annual benefits of the Beinn Ghrideag wind farm throughout the islands.

NUDC does feel there is “room for manoeuvre” in its discussions with the MoD, since the objection had nothing to do with “defence of the realm” – a function which is carried out by an entirely separate radar system, which was not a factor in the refusal of the NUDC planning application. NUDC has always been willing to enter into discussions with the MoD about “mitigation”, which would include switching turbines off during periods of operation at Hebrides Range.

In its mission to develop a project which delivers community benefit, NUDC is willing to look at all options. One is to revisit the feasibility study, published in 2009, which originally identified the potential for a community-owned wind project. In the coming weeks, NUDC will be working closely with Community Energy Scotland towards an application to the Infrastructure & Innovation Fund, which aims to develop projects linking local energy generation with local energy use.

“While we are certainly not changing our view as to the importance of the wind resource in our location, we are keen to look at a holistic approach,” added Mr Fraser.

“We want to capture the resource that is available to us here and develop a green economy here as well. Such an approach might take generation from a variety of sources and technologies, such as wind, tidal, hydro and solar, maybe working together, and making these available to a variety of end-users or customers, including local ones, while also pioneering innovative storage and distribution techniques.”

Filed Under: News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: Ministry of Defence, North Uist Development Company, Renewable Energy, Turbines

NUDC statement on turbine project refusal

October 10, 2014

IMG_5343

North Uist Development Company has released the following statement after the Scottish Government’s decision to refuse planning permission for its proposed community windfarm at Locheport:

North Uist has been dealt a bitter blow this week with the announcement by the Scottish Government that they are refusing planning permission for North Uist Development Company’s wind turbine development at Locheport.

This project, which has taken four years to reach this point, would have delivered a cash benefit to the island in excess of £200,000 annually for 15 years, rising to more than £450,000 in the years after that – a massive injection of funds which could have made an enormous difference to the lives of people in our community.

Unfortunately the MoD belatedly decided to object to the project on the grounds (deemed by almost all those knowledgeable on the subject to be spurious) that wind turbines at the chosen location might cause interference to Range radar systems. This was despite the fact that in 2010 the MoD had assured NUDC that they would have no objection to the project.

The MoD intervention triggered a protracted process, with a public enquiry and a referral to the Scottish Government, the result of which we have this week.

“We feel that the North Uist community has been dealt an extremely bad hand here,” says Robert Fraser, chair of NUDC. “We are now virtually the only community in the islands which is not able to derive community benefit from the great wind resource we have. It is incredibly disappointing for all those who have worked on this project since 2009 when a community-sponsored feasibility study identified our wind resource as our best hope for community regeneration.

“This really is a kick in the teeth for North Uist, which will do nothing to stem population decline in our island, nothing to tackle unemployment and lack of opportunity for our young people and nothing to help make the lives of our older people more comfortable and enjoyable.

“I have to say we feel very let down by the lack of support from the Comhairle which, although it did eventually support our application in a vote of members, has issued a statement following this week’s Scottish Government announcement which makes barely any mention of the loss to the community this decision represents and more or less blames the community and NUDC for the protracted nature of the planning process.

“Coming hard as it does on the heels of the Comhairle’s decision to force us out of the former head teacher’s house in Bayhead and force the closure of the community resource and fledgling business centre we were just beginning to develop there, we do wonder if there is a pattern here and whether such flagrant disregard for the wishes of the community would be the norm if we were 50 miles nearer Stornoway, where most of the councillors’ votes are to be found.

“In terms of where we go from here, the directors of NUDC will be meeting as soon as possible to discuss our options, and we have already been assured by Community Energy Scotland that their resources will continue to be available to us, for which we are grateful. One thing we will certainly want to consider is that the community of North Uist is being denied the opportunity to benefit from its natural resources because of alleged interference with a radar system which is operated by the UK Government. On that basis it is only right that the UK Government compensates North Uist for the loss which we will incur over the next 20 years. Of one thing people can be sure – we exist to facilitate economic and cultural development in North Uist, and we will continue to do that with all possible vigour.”

Additional background information, including the Report to Scottish Government and the Decision Letter, are available to view at the NUDC website www.isleofnorthuist.com

Filed Under: News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Ministry of Defence, North Uist, North Uist Development Company, Renewable Energy, Turbines

Comhairle reacts to turbine refusals

October 9, 2014

Windkraft04

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has reacted to news the Scottish Government has overturned its approval of wind turbine applications in South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist.

Earlier this evening, Am Pàipear reported the North Uist Development Company’s proposed two-turbine community windfarm has been refused by ministers.

It has now been confirmed that further developments in Benbecula and South Uist have also been knocked back.

In a statement, the Comhairle said it had been informed that Scottish Ministers have taken a decision to refuse planning permission for two community wind turbines in North Uist, a wind turbine proposed for the Dark Island Hotel on Benbecula and two proposed for Bornish, South Uist.

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, they are consistent with the advice given by our planning officials.

“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.”

Filed Under: News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: Benbecula, Ministry of Defence, North Uist, Renewables, South Uist, Turbines

Planning permission refused for North Uist windfarm

October 9, 2014

Visualisation of the two turbines planned for North Uist.

Visualisation of the two turbines planned for North Uist.

A community windfarm proposed for North Uist has been refused planning permission from the Scottish Government.

North Uist Development Company (NUDC) had planned to erect two 900kw turbines at Locheport.  When the project was first launched, it was estimated that the turbines could generate £179,000 in revenue annually for the first 15 years of operation, rising to £450,000 in years 15 – 20.

However, like several others from Uist, the development was subject to an objection from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

It argues that wind turbines can have detrimental effects on the operation of radar, including the desensitisation of radar, the creation of false aircraft returns, and obscuration of real aircraft targets.

In November last year, citing a lack of understanding about MoD concerns, councillors effectively ignored its objections and granted planning permission for the NUDC project and others from South Uist and Benbecula.

Subsequently, the cases were passed to the Scottish Government. It commissioned a reporter to consider the matter and make recommendations to ministers. A hearing, chaired by the reporter, was held in Balivanich in June.

Today, the verdict of the reporter – and consequently the Scottish Government – was made known.

A letter sent to NUDC states: “Scottish Ministers have carefully considered the reporter’s report of the hearing. They agree with the reporter’s conclusions and adopt them for the purposes of their own decision and accept the reporter’s recommendation.

“Accordingly, Scottish Ministers hereby refuse planning permission for the erection of 2 wind turbines at Locheport, North Uist.

“The foregoing decision of Scottish Ministers is final, subject to the right conferred by Sections 237 and 239 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 of any person aggrieved by the decision to apply to the Court of Session within 6 weeks of the date hereof. On any such application the Court may quash the decision if satisfied that it is not within the powers of the Act, or that the appellant’s interests have been substantially prejudiced by a failure to comply with any requirements of the Act, or of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992, or any orders, regulations or rules made under these Acts.

“A copy of this letter and the report has been sent to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Ministry of Defence. All parties who made representations will be notified of the decision.”

More on this story to follow…

Filed Under: News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: Ministry of Defence, North Uist Development Company, NUDC, Renewable Energy, Turbines

Anger in South Uist as Comhairle rejects wind turbine application after MoD objection

October 2, 2014

Windkraft04

Report by Iain Smith

Comhairle nan Eilean’s planning policy has been criticised this week following the council’s planning committee’s refusal to grant planning permission for the erection of a domestic wind turbine at Bornish in South Uist.

The criticism comes from Mr A P MacDonald who wanted to erect a domestic turbine on his croft at 13 Bornish – but was refused permission after the MOD objected.

According to the report that went before the committee on Tuesday, the MOD objected to the application on the grounds that the turbine would cause unacceptable interference to the Air Defence radar at South Clettraval, North Uist.

The applicant’s agents claim that the MOD’s submission contradicts earlier advice they received from a former Royal Navy Commander and air traffic controller, Shane Savage, of Wind Farm Aviation Consultant’s Ltd. He said said that there “can be no operational impact on the MOD Air Defence or MOD justification for the objection on the Air Defence Radar.”

They also maintain that, during a visit to Qinetics Rangehead HQ an employee ( a Range Tracking Officer), confirmed to them that the current Type 92 Air Defence radar could not detect small turbines. However, when contacted by the Comhairle senior Qinetic sources denied that was the case.

This issue was further complicated by the fact the Comhairle approved Mr MacDonald’s initial application in November of last year.However that decision was subsequently quashed at the High Court in Edinburgh after the MoD took it to a judicial review.

Now, after being rejected for a second time, the applicant, Angus Paul Mac Donald, expressed his frustration over the MoD’s objections and his disappointment at the committee’s decision.

He claimed that the council’s planning policy on wind turbines is both inconsistent and biased against local people.  He said: “I feel very let down by the Council on this matter as I feel that they have failed to take my opinion and the opinions of other experts who supported us, into account before they made their decision. The council can claim that it up to the applicant to disprove the MOD’s position – but when we do – our information and arguments are dismissed.”.

He continued: “There is no consistency in the council’s planning decisions on wind turbines. How, for example,  can the council approve two applications for turbines in North Uist, which are much closer to the Clettraval radar than my turbine would have been, and yet refuse me permission?”

Mr MacDonald has said that he intends to appeal against the committees decision.

Filed Under: News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, MoD, Turbines

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