Tory Holyrood MPs – with Labour and LibDem support – have tabled a motion for debate in parliament tomorrow which is aimed at putting Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing on the spot in the environmental debate over controversially siting wind parcs in ‘sensitive’ rural areas and/or in Scotland’s ‘wild lands’.
The motion by Murdo Fraser, MSP, Tory Energy spokesman and convenor of the parliamentary Energy committee in Holyrood states:
That Parliament notes objections to the planned Talladh-a-Bheithe wind farm on Rannoch Moor from the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and the John Muir Trust;
Considers that, if granted, the Talladh-a-Bheithe project will be visually detrimental to an area of outstanding natural beauty and one that is included in Scottish Natural Heritage’s wild land map;
Believes that the 24 turbines planned for two kilometres north of the Loch Rannoch and Glen Lyon National Scenic Area will be visible from 30 Munros and Corbetts, including the popular Schiehallion mountain;
Understands that this case presents the Scottish Government with its first real test following the announcement of the Third National Planning Framework (NPF3), in which 19% of Scotland was identified as national parks and national scenic areas and therefore out of bounds to developers, and,
Notes calls for the Scottish Government to reaffirm its commitment to preserving Scotland’s precious natural heritage.
Holyrood MPs who are supporting the motion include: Liz Smith, John Lamont, Nanette Milne, Cameron Buchanan, Margaret Mitchell, Annabel Goldie, Mary Scanlon, Gavin Brown, Alison McInnes (a LibDem MSP for North East Scotland) and Michael McMahon – who is Labour’s MSP for Bellshill.
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