Ask Argyll & Bute Council to Object to MachairWind

28th August 2026

Urgent Opportunity To Influence Argyll & Bute Council’s Position

The deadline for personal objections to MachairWind has passed — but there is another important opportunity to make your voice heard.

On the 15th of September 2026, Argyll & Bute Council’s Planning, Protective Services and Licensing (PPSL) Committee is due to consider the MachairWind proposal.  The position taken by Argyll & Bute Council could be one of the most important influences on the Marine Directorate as it considers whether this huge industrial development should be granted consent.

Who Should Write

We now need residents, businesses, visitors and everyone who cares about these islands to write the Councillors who make up Argyll & Bute’s PPSL to ask the Council to formally object to MachairWind.

You don't have to live here to write.  If you are a visitor, your voice matters too.

Tell Councillors why you visit Mull, Iona, Islay, Jura, Colonsay or the wider area, what you value about these places and most importantly whether the industrialisation of this extraordinary seascape would make you reconsider future visits.

Please include your full name and address and briefly explain your connection to the islands — whether you are a resident, business owner, regular visitor or have another connection to the area.

What To Do Now

Please email PPSL Councillors individually, ideally by Friday 11 September. A short, personal email is likely to be more effective than a lengthy or technical submission.

In your email, you may want to:

  1. State that you support and trust the objections submitted by Iona, Islay and Colonsay Community Councils as statutory consultees. These community councils have concluded that SPR’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) does not provide the evidence required for Scottish Ministers to make an informed and valid decision.
  2. Ask Councillors to read the Community Council objections in full before the PPSL meeting.
  3. Ask them to ensure the evidence within those objections is fully considered and that every statutory planning and environmental test has been demonstrated by evidence before a recommendation is reached.
  4. Ask them to vote for the Council to make an objection to MachairWind at the PPSL meeting on 15 September.

Key points you may wish to include:

Emphasise that this is not an argument against renewable energy or Scotland’s transition to net zero. The question is whether this development, in this location and at this scale, meets the required planning and environmental tests.

The Community Councils, and bodies such as the National Trust for Scotland and Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust do not believe those tests have been met. They have raised serious concerns about failings in the applicant’s Environmental Impact Assessment in terms of:

  • Landscape and visual impact.
  • Cultural heritage.
  • Socio-economic impacts on island communities.
  • Biodiversity.
  • The failure by SPR to include the whole project in its claims regarding climate benefits.  The EIA currently assesses the negative impacts for electricity generation in isolation, and ignores the full lifecycle emissions of the project, including emissions from manufacture, construction, maintenance and decommissioning, while simultaneously claiming benefits for the full project.  Put simply, SPR’s EIA excludes circa 75% of the project’s lifecycle emissions and, most importantly, does not provide the evidence needed to demonstrate climate benefit.

Click HERE(opens in new tab) for more detailed information on the above bullet points.

Public Concern Cannot Be Ignored

The level of public concern is exceptional.4,819 formal objections submitted in a 4 week period and over 10,000 petition signatures.

This evidence deserves to be heard and considered.

Please write.

Make it personal.

And ask Argyll & Bute Council to stand with its island communities and object to MachairWind.

Who To write To

An individual email should be sent to each member of the PPSL Committee by Friday 11th September: