Listen
Kyle windfarm proposals declined
24/10/2008
The Scottish Government has refused permission for the Kyle wind farm due to impacts on aviation safety and on the landscape.
Ministers agreed with the report of the public inquiry that the development would affect the safe operation of radar at Prestwick airport and have significant landscape and visual impacts.
Energy Minister Jim Mather said:
"The Reporter concluded that the Kyle wind farm would be inconsistent with the East Ayrshire Development Plan because of the effects on air safety at Prestwick airport and due to the impact on the landscape. While I am not bound to accept the Reporter's recommendation, after careful consideration I have decided to do so.
"As our record of approving 14 renewable projects shows, we want to approve good projects, in the right places, with benefits for communities and in harmony with the environment. Scotland has a huge clean, green energy potential, and as a responsible administration we will not approve applications which have detrimental safety and environmental impacts.
"We have therefore invited the applicant to come forward with a new application, with better shielding to reduce radar and landscape impacts. In doing so they will have the opportunity to work locally to develop a proposal with community benefits.
"We have now determined 20 energy applications in just 18 months - more than the 19 in the whole four years of the previous administration - including approval for the Clyde wind farm, the largest single consented wind farm in Europe.
"And we are speeding up decision making, with a target to make decisions within nine months where there is no public inquiry. That certainty of quicker decision making has brought recent private investment of around £1 billion in Scottish green energy schemes. Just today, the First Minister is opening the new offices of SgurrEnergy's HQ in Glasgow, reflecting worldwide demand for Scottish renewable energy technologies and expertise.
"During tough economic times, Scotland's renewables sector is booming and the scale of investment is hugely exciting. That includes not just wind but the whole renewable energy mix - from biomass to the energy we can generate from waves and tides."
In October 2004, Amec Project Investments Ltd applied for consent for the Kyle wind farm in East Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. The original application of 100 turbines was subsequently reduced to 95, and then to 85, to address issues raised by objectors. The development, as amended, would have a capacity of 255 MW.
4260 representations were received, all of which were objections to the development. Of these, 4257 came from members of the public and three from Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). 4175 objections, including those from the three NGOs, came from Scotland, 3559 of which (including 1 NGO) were from East Ayrshire. 74 objections came from other areas of the UK and 11 came from unknown areas.
East Ayrshire Council objected on landscape and visual grounds. As Ministers could not resolve the objection by modifications or conditions, the application was referred to a Public Local Inquiry (PLI).
The PLI was held between February and March 2007. In this instance the PLI was then adjourned at the request of the applicant whilst they tried to resolve outstanding aviation issues. The inquiry was subsequently reconvened for one week in June 2007.
The Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit is currently processing 34 renewable project applications - 24 wind farms, nine hydro projects and one wave project, with more applications expected.
Total installed capacity of renewables in Scotland is around 2.9 Gigawatts. Adding in all the potential energy from already consented renewable projects to those already operating brings the total to 5.5 GW, meaning the Scottish Government is set to surpass the 2011 target for 31 per cent of Scotland's electricity demand to come from renewables - a third of Scotland's electricity needs.
The Scottish Government has determined 20 energy applications, including approval for 14 renewable and one non-renewable project since May 2007 - more determinations than over the whole of the previous four years, in which 19 projects were determined.