|
|
Walkerburn Community CouncilInformation on the proposed wind farm development on Scawd Law
Scawd Law Wind Farm
The plan for this wind farm is for 12 turbines,
180 metres in height, around Scawd Law, less than 2 miles north
of Walkerburn, on Holylee Estate.
Scawd Law is 543 metres high.
It is the hill between Windlestraw Law, the highest hill
in the Moorfoots at 659 metres,
and Cairn Hill (499 metres) the hill immediately behind
Walkerburn to the north.
The land is currently used for sheep farming.
Holylee Estate also releases pheasants and red-legged
partridge for game shooting.
The developer is Fred Olsen Renewables, part of a
wholly Norwegian owned group.
It will be a profitable development for the landowner
(high annual rent for his land) and for the company but will
provide very little in the way of employment once access tracks
and concrete platforms are in place.
The sites shown for turbine bases on the current
plan, which may change, are on very steep ground, possibly in an
attempt to place the turbines as close as possible to, although
outside, the Scottish Borders Council boundary for acceptable
development (Ironside Farrar Report).
The turbine base sites shown are at about 420 metres to
640 metres. Only 2
turbines are shown at below 500 metres.
This means that the turbines will rise to between
600 metres and 820 metres making them the highest altitude
objects in the Moorfoot Hills.
Turbines will be very visible from the Tweed
Bridge in Walkerburn, from
Alexandra Park, the end of Caberston Road and the end of
Tweedholm Avenue, but not from most houses in the village.
On the back road, turbines will be visible from
the station, and very visible from everywhere east of
Juniperbank on the road to Peel.
They will tower over the valley on the way to Clovenfords
and will dominate views from the hills south of the A72.
In the wider surrounding area, turbines will be
visible from parts of Cardrona, Peebles, Innerleithen,
Clovenfords and Heriot.
As always, there are concerns that the Wind Farm
will be expanded if the initial phase gains permission.
(The same developer went from Crystal Rig 1 to Crystal
Rig 5 in the space of a few years – 2nd largest
onshore windfarm in UK.)
Grid Connection
This will be a separate planning application.
The developer has said that a route to the Yair sub
station is most likely. (We understand the Yair sub-station is
due to be upgraded).
This would mean highly visible heavy-duty pylons or poles from
the turbine site all the way down to the A72 and thence on down
the Tweed valley.
Access to the Site
Access to the site is planned from the A72 via an
upgraded track up the burn to Seathope.
This is a very dangerous section of the A72 road on which
there have been fatalities.
They may have to consider an alternative access route,
perhaps from the B709.
The very heavy loads which will need to use the
A72 during construction will cause damage to a road that is
already in a poor state.
Aircraft and Radar
The National Air Traffic Control Service has
stated that the location/size of the turbines may be unsafe and
has warned that they would oppose the current plan.
The Ministry of Defence has taken the same view.
Lighting and Noise
If the plan goes ahead, there will be red aircraft
warning lights on each turbine.
Turbines create noise, which can travel some
distance depending on atmospheric conditions and wind direction.
We understand that Fred Olsen will conduct an operational
noise assessment of all nearby properties.
Moorfoot Hills and River Tweed :
Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Sites of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
The site for the wind farm is tucked into a narrow
space between two SACs/SSSIs with potentially adverse
implications for both.
There are obvious environmental concerns at the effect of
this huge construction project, especially given the potential
for run-off of contaminants into the Tweed.
Even if these concerns are addressed, the two sites and
the wildlife living there will inevitably suffer adverse
effects.
Scottish Government Policy
The policy states:
“By 2030 we aim to generate 50% of Scotland's overall energy
consumption from renewable sources, and by 2050 we aim to have
decarbonised our energy system almost completely.
We remain committed to onshore wind as the lowest-cost
new-build electricity generation in the UK.”
This makes Scotland a target for wind farm companies as is shown
by the huge number of current applications.
More sources of renewable power are desirable,
indeed are essential. However various governments in
Europe have decided that too many onshore wind farms have been
built and now only permit the construction of offshore ones.
In Norway, for example, industry analysts, such as
StormGeo Nena Analysis (Reuters 12/9/2020),
believe that the Norwegian government is unlikely to accept any
new on-shore developments.
(Fred Olsen is a wholly Norwegian owned company.)
The questions have to be:
1.
Is the electricity produced worth the effects on landscape,
wildlife and the environment of the Tweed Valley?
2.
Would a wind farm of this size be better sited elsewhere, and in
particular offshore?
The Community Council will not come to a decision on how to
respond to the proposal until an actual application has been
submitted.
In the meantime, if you have any comments or questions please
speak to any member or send an email to
wdccscawdlaw@google.com
Community Benefit
Community Benefits are voluntary arrangements
offered by renewable energy businesses to communities located
near developments.
They are not a material consideration in a planning
application. Any
discussions on Community Benefits must be independent of the
planning process. It
doesn’t matter if you are for or against a development you can
still take part in discussions about Community Benefit.
The Community Council is a statutory consultee in the planning
process and must be careful to make a decision on whether or not
to support or oppose the wind farm separately from any
discussion on community benefits.
There is NO guarantee that the Walkerburn and
District community will ever see any real benefits from the
Scawd Law wind farm development.
Any benefit has to be shared amongst the
communities affected – in this case probably amongst 8 community
council districts – not just villages/towns.
There will be rules agreed with the developer on
how much benefit is paid and when – this will be a very long
process. NO payment
is made until after the wind farm is fully operational.
The Scottish Government’s “Good Practice
Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy
Developments 2019” lays down principles for Community Benefit
and suggests a minimum of £5,000 per megawatt installed or the
equivalent in value, index linked for the operational lifetime of the project.
The Government’s aim is to encourage a more
holistic approach of supporting a community’s needs and
aspirations rather than random payments.
The developers state on their website that they
intend to pay this minimum, ie about £300,000 per annum spread
amongst all communities.
The Scottish Government encourages developers to begin the
process of identifying all communities affected by their
development and to start discussions on how community benefit
might be managed and shared at an early stage in the planning
process to allow community groups time to consolidate their
available resource and build capacity, as well as to enable
discussion and identification of an appropriate area of benefit.
The developer has identified all the areas affected by
the windfarm and has engaged with Community Councils and some
other groups. WDCC
is in the process of establishing contacts to start early
discussions.
The Government believes that,
“Key to future discussions will
be a community possessing a community action plan: detailing its
investment aspirations and associated outcomes. This will be
critical for communities in their discussions with renewable
energy businesses, irrespective of the community benefits
package being offered.”
WDCC and Walkerburn Community Development Trust are
putting together a draft action plan which can be discussed with
the wider community in the next few months.
At some point the developer and all of the communities involved
will have to take decisions on how any benefits will be agreed
and managed. We will
seek help from Local Energy Scotland and Scottish Borders
Council on how best to do this.
|