Wild Land News no 60, Spring 2004

Shieldaig hydro scheme refused Article

John Digney reports.

We all breathed a sigh of relief on 16th March when the Scottish Executive announced it was to refuse the application by Highland Light and Power (HLP) for a small-scale hydro-electric scheme in the Shieldaig and Slattadale Forests of Wester Ross. This spectacular area, in the shadow of the Torridon mountains, had been under threat from hydro development since 1996, when HLP had proposed a scheme to involve damming three lochs in the Shieldaig Forest. This went to a Public Inquiry, which was abandoned at a late stage in 1997 when HLP suddenly withdrew their application.

The more recent proposal required a fourth loch to be dammed. 848 letters of objection were received by the Executive, and only six in support. As Highland Council had not objected, the Executive were not obliged to hold another Public Inquiry and were able to exercise their discretion to determine the application themselves.

The deciding factors in the refusal were the probable impact on wildlife as well as wild land. The scheme would have involved piping water between catchments, and a prime concern was for the effect on the colony of freshwater pearl mussels in the River Kerry, considered to be possibly the densest such colony in the UK. Another major anxiety was the effect on birdlife, notably the black-throated divers breeding on the three Shieldaig lochs. Unnatural fluctuations in water levels would be expected not only to have an adverse impact on the nesting sites, but also to interfere with the food chain on which the birds rely to feed their chicks.

For us in SWLG it was encouraging that landscape considerations figured prominently. The letter to the developers stated: Ministers are of a view that this proposal is likely to have an adverse impact on the core values of an NSA, that is the values for which the area was designated, and that this impact is not outweighed by social and economic benefits of national importance. Whilst it is accepted that wild land is not designated in conservation terms, planning guidance cautions planning authorities to ensure that proposed developments do not compromise the wild land character of these areas.

The decision to refuse this application is crucial not only for this very special area , but as an indicator for future proposals. Had permission been granted it would surely have sent a signal to developers that renewable energy schemes are acceptable just about anywhere, no matter how fine the landscape and how insignificant the generating capacity of the project.

This was the right decision and we applaud the Executive for taking it.