53 community councils unite to demand Highland energy projects pause<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n Stewart, who is also a crofter, noted the community was disillusioned with the process, but said he was glad to see so many locals attending the sessions throughout the week.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBy and large, the majority of the community opposes it. But there\u2019s a real disillusionment with the process.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve heard, the council, who objected, and the Skye Wind Information Group, who instructed their own experts, made very compelling points for refusal.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut there\u2019s still doubt whether those views will be meaningfully considered.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cLook at the Ackron Wind Farm decision in East Sutherland. The government reporter recommended refusal, but Scottish ministers approved it anyway.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere\u2019s a disconnect \u2014 a lack of trust that even after participating in the process, communities will be heard.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
<\/p>\n
\n Originally the council objected due to peatland impact, in line with another statutory body. The developers then reconfigured the turbine layout to avoid some peat areas, and those objections were withdrawn.\n<\/p>\n
\n Stewart believes that on paper, the peat restoration plans sound reasonable. But the best protection for peat \u201cis not damaging it in the first place,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cEspecially when so much of this power might never reach the market, digging up thousands of tonnes of peatland in the name of green energy doesn\u2019t sit right with me.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cPeatland is vital for ecosystems, carbon storage, and climate resilience.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe first Ben Aketil wind farm was supposed to operate for 33 years \u2014 now, 18 years in, they\u2019re digging it up and starting again.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt happens time and again as turbines get bigger \u2014 they just dig up more.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Residents have also raised fears over infrastructure, emergency planning, and fire risk. Turbine components would arrive via the pier at Kyle of Lochalsh and travel by truck to remote sites on Skye. But Klein said there were no detailed transport plans provided yet \u2014 only verbal assurances.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about massive vehicles on single-track roads,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd no one has explained how they\u2019ll deal with emergencies\u2014especially fires at battery storage sites, which local fire services are not equipped to handle.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Looking Ahead<\/p>\n
\n With more projects entering the planning system each week, residents fear a tipping point is approaching.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cRight now, there are three more applications on the table \u2014 this week alone,\u201d said Klein. \u201cThat\u2019s another 50 turbines. It\u2019s too much, too fast, with too little oversight.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n As the volume of projects increases, pressure is growing on Scottish ministers to intervene. Both campaigners and councillors are calling for a coordinated national strategy that balances renewable energy goals with the protection of local communities and landscapes.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI’m not against wind turbines or anything like that,\u201d Klein said, \u201cit\u2019s just really crucial to ask for a pause \u2014 to evaluate, think it through, and then make decisions.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBecause you\u2019re overwhelming local democratically elected bodies. It\u2019s a big danger.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three new planning applications \u2014 totalling 50 turbines up to 200 metres high \u2014 were lodged this week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-222059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114762567026226010","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}