LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

SNP ministers accused of ‘outrageous’ power grab over decision on China-backed wind farm in Angus 

Credit:  By Gareth McPherson | The Courier | April 12, 2018 | www.thecourier.co.uk ~~

Ministers are facing questions over their intervention in a planning application for a China-backed wind farm.

The SNP administration has been accused of subverting local democracy by using a rarely-used power to “call-in” plans relating to the proposed 72-turbine Inch Cape wind farm, off the Angus coast.

The application takeover by the Scottish Government was confirmed on Monday, the day Nicola Sturgeon started a week-long trade to China.

Opposition politicians said it is “outrageous” that the government has grabbed the decision from councillors before they had a chance to consider it.

The Inch Cape site is owned by Red Rock Power, a subsidiary of China’s biggest state-owned investment fund, the State Development and Investment Corporation.

A new planning application includes plans to build a substation and cable infrastructure at the former Cockenzie power plant in East Lothian.

Alexander Stewart, for the Scottish Conservatives, said the call-in is an “outrageous move from the Scottish Government and completely tramples over local democracy”.

He added: “The fact that this decision was taken while Nicola Sturgeon was in China will undoubtedly raise eyebrows, and they need to explain why this announcement was made now.”

Iain Gray, the Labour MSP, said: “Whether this sequence of events was intentional or coincidental, the SNP government should not be overstepping the boundaries of local democracy and centralising decisions ahead of democratically elected local councillors.”

Liam McArthur, the Lib Dem MSP, said: “Cutting local representatives out of the loop, before they have even come to a decision, risks giving the impression that Scottish ministers are more interested in touting for Chinese business than respecting local decision making.”

A Scottish Government spokesman: “The Cockenzie Power Station site is included in the National Planning Framework 3 and this application may raise matters of national importance.

“Calling it in will allow further consideration of the case by ministers before they issue a decision on whether or not planning consent should be granted.”

Source:  By Gareth McPherson | The Courier | April 12, 2018 | www.thecourier.co.uk

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon