Letters / Don’t insult us
An open letter to Fergus Ewing
Fergus Ewing
Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism,
The Scottish Parliament,
Edinburgh,
EH99 1SP
Dear Mr Ewing,
I want to express my disappointment and anger at your decision to grant consent for 103 turbines to be erected in Shetland by Viking Energy.
You say you have ‘taken account of all the representations received’. Given that you received 2,772 official objections to the windfarm and only 1,115 notices of support I find this difficult to believe.
You say you have ‘compromised’ by reducing the number of turbines from 127 to 103 but this was no ‘compromise’ based on public opinion. It was a necessity due to the proximity of some turbines to Scatsta Airport.
You say ‘My feeling is that this is the right decision because of the huge benefits that it will pave the way for in Shetland and for its people and communities’. Have you ever visited the proposed construction site Mr Ewing? Have you visited Shetland? Have you spoken to the people who will have several turbines within 2km of their homes (in contravention of Scottish Government guidelines)?
You say it will be economically beneficial and ‘yield 140 jobs during construction and 34 when operational’ but you make no mention of the jobs and livelihoods that will be lost because of damage to Shetland’s tourist industry. As far as I am aware no assessment of the impact of the project on Shetland’s tourist industry has ever been undertaken. If I am wrong please correct me.
You say that ‘developments like Viking will help (the Scottish Government) meet our 2020 (renewables) target’. That may be true, but a key purpose of renewables is to benefit the environment. The environmental credentials of this project are particularly unsound. Given that SNH, the John Muir Trust and Shetland Amenity Trust have all objected on environmental grounds and the RSPB have expressed serious concerns as to the scale of the project you cannot be unaware of this, or of the fact that the carbon payback calculations are deeply flawed.
You say that the SNP administration in Holyrood want Scotland to lead the way in developing renewables. ‘We want Scotland to exploit the massive potential of renewable energy, and that potential is greatest in the Western and Northern Isles.’ Well Mr Ewing, I think that communities in the Western and Northern Isles may take exception to the notion that they should be industrialised on a massive scale to power the Central Belt.
I am not surprised by your decision to approve this appalling development, but please don’t insult those of us who oppose it by pretending the decision was not political, or that the project is not entirely about money.
Robina Barton
Birka
Bressay
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