Galloway national park ‘would cost jobs by blocking wind farms'
A new national park in Galloway would deprive the region of more than £540 million of economic output and hundreds of renewable energy jobs over the next decade, economists have warned.
A report by Biggar Economics on behalf of the renewables sector suggested there would be a reduction in the amount of onshore wind farms in the area, as planning permission would be likely to become much more difficult, hampering efforts to develop new sites and upgrade existing ones.
According to the research, Scotland's existing national planning framework states that proposals for wind farms in national parks will not be supported unless any adverse impacts are clearly outweighed by social, environmental and economic benefits.
Galloway was selected for a new national park in July last
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The Independent
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