July 21, 2011
Scotland

Wind farm refused in Scotland

Birdwatch, www.birdwatch.co.uk 21 July 2011

RSPB Scotland has welcomes decision to refuse consent for Stacain wind farm in Argyll, whcih would have been a threat to Golden Eagles.

This is the second time that Ministers have refused consent for the 14-turbine wind farm at Stacain, near Inveraray, following a six-year planning process involving two formal public inquiries.

Developer Bagmoor Wind’s proposal would have been located within the Glen Etive and Glen Fyne Special Protection Area (SPA) for Golden Eagles and, if approved, would have posed a significant threat to the birds, due to habitat loss and risk of collision with turbines. There are just over 440 pairs of Golden Eagles left in Scotland, and a 2008 report by SNH found that the conservation status of Scotland’s golden eagle population was unfavourable. The main constraint nationally was identified as illegal killing, but wind farm development was an additional factor in Argyll and in Caithness.

Commenting on the decision, Aedan Smith of RSPB Scotland said: “We are very pleased with Scottish Ministers’ decision. It is the right one for wildlife and renewable energy. This proposal would have caused serious harm to the eagles and to the reputation of wind farms, making it more difficult to deliver the renewable energy we need to tackle climate change.”

“We were particularly pleased to see robust opposition to the proposals from SNH. RSPB Scotland, SNH and the local community have had to invest a major amount of time and money to fight this completely inappropriate proposal for over 6 years. It is enormously frustrating that we needed to do this when our efforts, and those of developers, should be going towards delivering renewables in the right place that do not harm Scotland’s precious wildlife and habitats.”

Information on the decision can be found here.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/07/21/wind-farm-refused-in-scotland/