Wild Land News no 59, Winter 2003/2004

COMMENT Article

Holyrood inquires into renewable energy

We learned in October that the Parliament's Enterprise Committee is to hold an Inquiry into Renewable Energy, prompted on one side by MSPs' bulging postbags on wind farms, and on the other by industry pressure to speed up the approval process.

SWLG had earlier signed up to a joint statement on this issue by Scottish Wildlife and Countryside LINK. This however is couched in the broadest terms, in order to accommodate the views of those organisations whose priority is the prevention of global warming at all costs, and those, such as ourselves, who argue that this must be achieved without destroying our finest landscapes.

A recent meeting of LINK agreed that delegates from both camps should give evidence to the Inquiry, but that individual groups should also be free to develop their own viewpoints. We are naturally concerned that with an Administration firmly in favour of wind farms, for employment creation and local spin-off 'inducements' as well as for green reasons, the Inquiry will concentrate on how to cut corners in pursuit of fast-track approvals. Note too that the Enterprise Committee, not the Environment Committee, is conducting the Inquiry, since energy applications do not go through the well-understood Planning process that any other development in the countryside has to.

We are of course fully in support of meeting emissions reduction targets. The climate has oscillated violently enough over the last million years without us giving it a big and unpredictable shove. We realise the government will always prefer the easiest and cheapest fix: it needs continually goaded to reduce energy consumption by anti-waste incentives, including making electricity dear enough for us to bother switching lights off. We see the current rash of onshore wind farm proposals as a short-term expedient, and expect offshore wind farms and marine hydro (tidal currents as well as wave) to become the best bet very soon. We feel that intrusive large commercial windfarms on our hills and mountains will be looked back upon as a crass folly within ten years - and of course there are no funds being set aside to restore the sites, so the access roads and concrete founds will blight the landscape for generations. We accept that there are some locations where commercial windfarms will be tolerable, and will support small-scale installations serving rural communities.

We have drafted an eight-point statement which we hope to submit to the Inquiry, and also to circulate to MSPs and the media:

The Scottish Highlands has already borne a disproportionate share of UK renewable energy, much of it visually intrusive and environmentally damaging, and practically irreversible. Very large areas have been 'municipalised' by energy developments, including access roads, transmission networks, dams, and catchment enlargement works, and have thus lost their 'wild' character.
Large-scale wind energy developments should be encouraged close to areas of consumption (especially in the Central Belt). There should be a very strong presumption against them in the highlands and islands (broadly defined), and a moratorium there until any areas where they may be acceptable have been determined and agreed by open and accountable planning processes.
Small-scale energy developments meeting local requirements should be encouraged within strict planning criteria.
Off-shore energy developments should be encouraged in principle, within a planning framework that addresses transmission landfalls, shore stations, and views out to sea from 'heritage coasts' and wild areas.
It is understandable that some environmentally concerned people should regard the landscape heritage of Scotland as sacrificable to the greater cause of arresting global warming. They display an almost hairshirted virtue in welcoming the industrialisation of the mountains. In fact, energy development is now a purely commercial activity driven by the profit motive: if government decided to allow energy prices to rise, or to redirect financial incentives to fit the planning criteria applied to all other forms of development, there would be no need to accept any more obtrusive energy schemes in our valued landscapes.
Offshore hydro schemes (tidal current as well as wave) are likely to become successful large-scale baseload energy providers within 10 years, as with offshore oil before. Large-scale onshore wind will then be seen as a short-sighted aberration - and on peat moorlands may release more CO2 from carbon sinks than is saved during the initial gap-filling period.
Any large onshore schemes that are approved should have reinstatement bonds lodged at the outset, covering complete removal of access tracks, concrete founds, and transmission lines. This will underline their full economic costs and make them less economically attractive to developers or landowners.
The prime landscape heritage, scenery, and wild land of Scotland are an irreplaceable asset to be safeguarded for future generations. They are sufficiently unique within Britain and Europe, in both natural and cultural dimensions, to be one of Scotland's most valuable economic assets, as a key attraction for long-term residential and business investments and for discerning visitors. To trade their remaining integrity for modest short-term advantages would be both morally and practically misguided.

We would very much appreciate hearing from any members who would dissent from this 'manifesto' or who would like to refine it. This will greatly strengthen our hand in deploying it in the public arena.

November 2003