As most residents of the Dunvegan Community Trust community will be aware, there are multiple companies with proposals for new windfarm developments and repowering/extension plans to existing farms, at various stages of planning in the NW of Skye, including the erection of 53 200m high turbines in the ‘Glen Uillinish 2’ project in Struan CC area. The proposed repowering and extension of the Ben Aketil farm would be the first 200m turbines built in Skye. DCT was set up in 2009 to distribute the community benefit funds agreed with Falck from Ben Aketil Windfarm at the time, for a 25 year period. This agreement was made before the introduction of the SG Good practice Guidance (2014) which currently recommends Community Benefits of £5000 per megawatt produced (or equivalent) plus the opportunity for shared ownership the windfarms (5% or 10%). This is just guidance, and companies are under no real obligation to adhere to it – as DCT is not the landowner, our leverage in all aspects is limited.
We are a charity run predominantly by volunteers, and not a replacement for active, strong, publicly funded, genuinely local government.
As an organisation we can’t represent every opinion of our membership in a complex issue like this, but we can try our best to get the best deal for the community we serve. Even as a committee we have diverse views on the issues – membership of DCT does not indicate support or opposition for windfarm applications.
Right now we can:
- Get together with community groups across Skye to form a united front with a louder voice and better make demands of politicians and external companies, and to share opportunities
- Lobby our elected representatives to put pressure on UK & Scottish Government to increase the community benefit to 5% of profits, and make it a requirement – not a guideline.
- Lobby our elected representatives to put pressure on the UK & Scottish Government to address the disproportionately high electricity and standing charges in the Highlands and Islands
- Seek professional legal and financial advice to explore shared ownership options for any approved windfarms
- We will share information of planning applications for windfarms as they go in as a reminder of the opportunity to object or support.
We have already been in contact with other community groups in Central Skye around the Muirhall Development ‘Glen Uillinish 2’ , and there will be more discussions to come. There will be the option of shared ownership of some approved projects for DCT and other community groups.
The first will be Ben Sca as its planning permission has been approved already. We have been receiving advice about this option from Local Energy Scotland, and the next step is to put out a tender for legal advice, which is funded by a grant through CARES. The route of shared ownership would require a large financial outlay (and would generate considerably more income than ‘community benefits’) and it will not happen without a demonstrable level of community support.
We’ve included a link to the Ben Aketil application to , which can be viewed and responded to. We have also included the email addresses of councillors and MSPs, and our MP. If you support or object to any of the proposed windfarms we would urge you to write to them, they are elected and paid to represent us all, and to fight for our best interests. We would also urge everyone to write MSPs specifically to implore them to update the community benefit ‘guidance’ to a percentage of profits rather than a fixed amount per megawatt, and to make it a requirement rather than a recommendation.
Information on these developments can be found in the following links:
Ben Sca – Planning Approved
Ben Aketil https://benaketilwindfarm.co.uk
– Application for repowering and extension submitted
https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationDetails.aspx?cr=ECU00004552
Respond to the Energy Consents Unit representations_mailbox@gov.scot quoting ECU 00004552
Glen Uilinish 2 https://www.muirhallenergy.co.uk/glen-ullinish-2
Vatenfall https://group.vattenfall.com/uk/what-we-do/our-projects/edinbane
Balmeanach https://balmeanachwindfarm.co.uk
Waternish https://waternishwindfarm.co.uk
Cllr John Finlayson john.finlayson.cllr@highland.gov.uk
Cllr Drew Millar Drew.Millar.cllr@highland.gov.uk
Cllr Calum Munro calum.munro.cllr@highland.gov.uk
Cllr Ruraidh Stewart Ruraidh.Stewart.cllr@highland.gov.uk
Kate Forbes MSP Kate.Forbes.msp@parliament.scot
Ian Blackford MP ian.blackford.mp@parliament.uk
