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David Slater submission of 15 June 2021

PE1864/VVV - Increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore windfarms

Response to the calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore windfarms by -

• Adopting English planning legislation for the determination of onshore wind farm developments;
• Empowering local authorities to ensure local communities are given sufficient professional help to engage in the planning process: and
• Appointing an independent advocate to ensure that local participants are not bullied and intimidated during public inquiries.

An application for a wind farm, which I objected to, was refused by planners under delegated powers due to the fact it did not comply with the local development plan but it was appealed to the Local Review Body who granted planning permission due to pressure from one community council who were keen to benefit from the financial incentives on offer.

This appeal personally cost me a lot of money to employ legal help to defend my position. Under English planning legislation this application would have been refused and never appealed because it did not pass the first part of the test which is that any development must comply with the local development plan.

In Scotland the local development plan appears to carry no weight – this should be a document that provides certainty to developers, residents and other community stakeholders on what is and is not acceptable. This would avoid developers wasting time and money on applications that are not appropriate and provide residents with the information they need to decide if the area is suitable for their domestic requirements.

In my case I bought a country residence as that was the life style I chose, the local development plan showed that wind farms were not appropriate within 2.5km of my house and due to the Local Review Body completely ignoring this fact - I now have 140m high turbines 800m from my property.

I was also appalled by the fact that effectively the planning permission was bought. Initially the Local Review Body supported the Planning Officer and rejected the application until the applicant introduced the community grant after which they changed their position and supported the application.

I was also informed by my legal counsel that the Local Review Body had breached a number of planning laws/processes but that the only way to appeal was to go to a Judicial Review which, clearly is outside the financial reach of any normal person.

I fully Support this petition.