Member Article

Wind farm bids halted

Another local authority has made calls for a temporary halt on wind farm applications in the wake of a high volume of inappropriate bids.

It has been claimed that developers are ignoring Fife council guidance on approved sites, and are swamping planners with “opportunistic” applications.

The National Grid is also struggling to cope with the high levels of energy being produced by existing wind farms in Scotland, as it waits for the transmission infrastructure to be upgraded.

Speaking to the Press Association, Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said: “The pressure being put on our planners is coming from the sheer number of wind turbine applications that are currently being submitted across all parts of Fife.

A public consultation is now being prepared by the council on the approved sites, and they are now calling for a moratorium on new applications to be implemented until people have had their say.

This news comes just two months after Aberdeenshire Council asked for a six-month moratorium, after they were overwhelmed by a high volume of applications from develoopers.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Scottish Government ministers and officials regularly speak at conferences and events on the benefits of renewables, and we are considering a number of ways further support on renewables can be offered to local authorities in line with planning reform and the 2020 renewables targets.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .