Community / Protesters make their feelings known as SSE celebrates completion of Viking wind farm
AS INVITED guests gathered on Monday night for a gala dinner at Hay’s Dock, hosted by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) to celebrate the completion of the Viking Energy wind farm construction phase, so did dark rain clouds.
As it turned out the rain held off just long enough for most attendees to arrive in a dry condition, while 20 or so placard wielding protesters against the development – and potentially other projects of a similar nature – gathered outside the venue ahead of the event hoping to make their feelings and dissenting voices heard.
They responded to comments made by SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies in interviews last week that Shetland could expect further developments similar to Viking and that constraint payments are a “completely normal thing”.
Local protester Rosemary Macklin appeared to speak for many of those gathered there when she said her main concern was the environmental damage done to Shetland and the fact that large corporations were making huge amounts of money from that.
“They knew well in advance because of things like constraint payments that if they built their wind farm far away from where the power was actually needed, they would get both the subsidies to build it and constraint payments when the power wasn’t required by the grid.
“I call this the scam of the century,” she said firmly to a murmur of supportive voices.
With a similar line of thinking, at the end of last week, local tourism guru Laurie Goodlad had raised an online petition aimed at encouraging Shetland Islands Council (SIC) elected representatives not to attend the event.
By Monday night it had attracted 662 signatures. Goodlad attended the gathering hoping to present the petition in person to Emma Macdonald the political leader of the SIC who was due to attend the event in an official capacity.
“I felt we needed to send a message asking them not to attend and to make it clear that not everyone’s celebrating,” she said, adding that she had been “delighted” with the response to the petition, especially in such a short period of time.
Among the first to arrive was council leader Macdonald, accompanied by SIC chief executive Maggie Sandison, with Goodlad seizing the opportunity to hand over the petition in person, while other attendees included councillors Allison (Flea) Duncan and development committee chair Dennis Leask, the SIC’s director of development services Neil Grant as well as Shetland Charitable Trust chief executive Ann Black.
Macdonald said she was simply “doing my job” by attending the event, adding that to “engage with the industry” and to make the voices of the community heard it was important “to be in the room” in order to achieve that.
“I understand the feelings,” she said. “I get it, I really do. I live here and I care about it, but I also care about doing the right thing.”
Councillor Bryan Peterson also attended the event in his role as depute convener but insisted he would not be accepting hospitality.
He said he fully understood the feelings driving those concerned about, and protesting against, the development, claiming he “ultimately shared their feelings on it.”
However, where he differed, he said, was that this event afforded the opportunity to be in a room with “an unusually large gathering of very influential folk,” that normally they (the SIC) wouldn’t have access to and that, on balance, he believed it was best to get their message “directly into the ears of those who need to hear it,” feeling this was ultimately a more powerful message than simply boycotting the event.
“I’m certainly not in celebratory mood though and won’t be accepting any wining and dining,” he added.
Monday night’s dinner has been described by SSE as an internal “thank you event for partners and stakeholders involved in the project”. It will be followed by a celebratory event in the Lerwick Town Hall on Tuesday morning. Local media has not been invited.
SSE previously said Viking will be the “UK’s most productive onshore wind farm”.
Chief executive Phillips-Davies also said last week that he believed it would bring “huge benefits” to Shetland.
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