Highland communities 'drowning' under rush of energy developments

Communities across the Highlands are “drowning” in the rush of energy developments being proposed for land across the north, it has been claimed.

Now, Highland Council is coming under pressure to meet its commitment to a real-time map of proposed energy developments - from windfarms to battery energy storage systems (BESS) and overhead powerlines - to give residents a clear view of the full suite of applications for their area.

Councillors from all parties agreed to fund an online real-time map on September 30, with the move gaining support of more than 60 community councils.

But six months on, and the map has yet to materialise.

READ MORE: Scottish island ‘sacrificed’ to windfarms as 130 turbines planned

Lyndsey Ward, of Communities B4 Power Companies, in a letter to Malcolm MacLeod, assistant chief executive of Highland Council, said the map was “essential”, given communties were finding it “almost impossible” to keep track of incoming applications.

The letter said: “Communities are drowning in the sheer number of massive applications for substations, pylon lines, wind farms, BESS and pumped storage.

“It is almost impossible to keep up with. We feel that we are being kept in the dark as to the extent of Big Energy activity where we live and work.

“Some areas have tried to do their own maps, although they really shouldn’t have to, to try and keep abreast of what is happening but we the public and planning committee members and officials need official and regularly updated mapping to get the full picture before another application is approved.”

Three overhead powerline upgrades, two of which have end points in Beauly, are planned by SSEN across the Highlands to increase capacity of transmission to the National Grid. A stream of new windfarm and battery storage bids has followed to capitalise on the network improvements.

Highland Council said information regarding windfarms had been online “for many years” but the information was described as “woefully inadequate” by Councillor Helen Crawford (Conservative), of Aird and Highland Ward, whose motion secured the commitment for the real-time map.

Ms Crawford said: “We all know there is already a wind turbine map, but that map is woefully inadequate and it is precisely why I drafted the Motion requiring the council to publish a real time map showing all major renewable energy related developments, existing and proposed – that means everything that’s related to electricity generation, storage and transmission developments, the grid connections, the energy generation stations, BESS, the wind farms. The lot.

"We need this real-time mapping to bring all this information together into one picture so that people can truly see what this means for the Highlands.

“I very much came at this because I was concerned this was an obvious democratic deficit, a lack of relevant information flow for members of the public.

"People are being inundated. There is no question that this is going to mean industrialisation for parts of the Highlands, and we are already seeing that in my own ward of Aird and Loch Ness and other beautiful areas such as the Kyle of Sutherland.”

Ms Crawford said she had been approached by councillors from across Scotland regarding her motion. Aberdeenshire Council has now gone on to produce a version of the map approved by Highland Council.

“So it’s only right that people are asking why there is a delay in Highland – after all the Motion was drafted and approved right here in the Highlands first,” Ms Crawford added.

A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The onshore wind and hydro mapping has been available for many years on our website.

“The former is updated on a six monthly basis. We are in the process of adding BESS and will then be turning our attention to power lines. This is an ongoing process.”