Wind farms blown off course by Westminster-Holyrood struggle

PLANS for one of the biggest offshore wind farms in Europe, to be built off the coast of south-west Scotland, were in chaos last night after experts warned that the Scottish Parliament may have no legal power to give the go-ahead for the project.

The Robin Rigg Wind Farm, which would see 60 turbines in the Solway Firth in Dumfriesshire, is seen as a key part of the government strategy to massively expand renewable energy in Scotland.

The Scottish Parliament’s Robin Rigg Wind Farm Committee is due to take evidence from key players and organisations on a proposed bill in Dumfries today. But Alan Cubbin, the director of quality and standards with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), said that the committee could not pass a bill because it is not a devolved matter.

The bill was the first private bill to be heard in the Scottish Parliament in June this year.

It would be a source of considerable embarrassment to the Parliament if the bill proves invalid and the Certificate of Legislative Competence issued by the presiding officer Sir David Steel was done so incorrectly.

Mr Cubbin said the MCA had taken legal advice and he suggested "the more people look at it down here, the stronger the argument becomes that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to do it. We are not convinced the Parliament has the power to pass this bill.

"Because safety of navigation is not a devolved responsibility, and this proposal to build the offshore wind farm will interfere with safety of navigation, then we have said we want to question the validity of the bill in its basic form.

"They may not have the power to pass this bill because the devolution aspects of navigation are set out in the Scotland Act 1998. In that act there are reservations on the Merchant Shipping Act which is the act we operate under and includes safety of navigation. So, anybody who wants to interfere with the navigation rights around the UK coast has to comply with the Merchant Shipping Act which is not devolved."

Rising optimism over Scotland’s potential wind-power resources prompted Ross Finnie, the environment minister, to double targets for renewable energy generation, setting a goal of producing 40 per cent of the country's power needs from renewables by 2020. Robin Rigg wind farm, which will be sited off Auchencairn Bay, near Dalbeattie, could produce between two and three megawatts of electricity for each turbine.

But environment groups and politicians called for immediate clarification on who has the power to legislate on the bill before money and time were wasted on consideration of what may yet prove to be legally invalid.

Kevin Dunion, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "It seems incredible that a bill which was laid back in June should only now be challenged as to its competence under reserved powers. The proposed wind farm is already notable, but could become even more significant if it tests the constitutional interpretation of the devolution settlement."

Robin Harper, Holyrood’s only Green MSP, said: "The Executive pledged to give this project all possible assistance on its inception, but it seems the developers may have been badly advised on the powers of the Parliament to enact this bill."

A spokeswoman for the Parliament said: "The Presiding Officer has ruled that the Parliament has the power to legislate on this."