A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to write to Argyll & Bute Councillors before the Planning, Protective Services and Licensing (PPSL) Committee meeting on 15 September.
Your emails were heard. Several Councillors specifically referred to the volume of correspondence they had received and the strength of the concerns being expressed, with one describing their inbox as having been “jammed”.
The outcome was extraordinary: across parties, the PPSL Committee supported its officers’ recommendation that Argyll & Bute Council OBJECT to MachairWind. Councillors at the meeting described the vote as “unanimous” which we expect the formal record to confirm imminently.
The Council’s officers found that the impacts of the proposed development had been under-assessed by the applicant across Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Oronsay, Gigha, Iona, Mull, Staffa and Tiree. Across multiple locations, they concluded that effects were not, as submitted by ScottishPower Renewables, “moderate and significant” but “major and significant”.
On cultural heritage, officers concluded that the proposal would result in significant effects on terrestrial heritage assets including specific emphasis on adverse impacts on Iona. They also raised strong concerns about the adequacy of the EIA, including the under-assessment of the full socio-economic, tourism and recreation impacts on the fragile communities most affected.
Officers concluded that “further mitigation measures are unlikely to reduce the widespread significant and adverse visual effects” on national, regional and local seascapes and landscapes and on cultural heritage assets, because of the “large-scale nature of the proposal in this highly sensitive location.” They also concluded that the asserted national benefits should not override the inadequately assessed impacts on the fragile local island economies most affected.
Officers referred to representations from Historic Environment Scotland and NatureScot – we are looking for confirmation of the positions of these Statutory Consultees, which are still not published by Marine Directorate. Officers also cited objections from Community Councils on Colonsay, Gigha, Iona, Islay, Mull and Tiree. The report included confirmation from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate that more than 5,000 objections have been submitted to the MachairWind applications.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to their elected representatives and helped get us to this point. The strength and breadth of the response from the islands is now given crucial force in a strong, very well-reasoned Council objection.
This is far from the end. The decision on MachairWind is the responsibility of Scottish Ministers.
Want to Read More?
The Council’s reports are available here:
Argyll & Bute Council’s Report(opens in new tab)
Argyll & Bute Councils Supplementary Reports
Jacobs Engineering Ltd Independent Seascape, Landscape and Visual Review