Passion and tears as rural residents oppose the march of Big Energy
There was passion and tears from those who spoke of their despair and grief at what seemed like an unstoppable steamroller crushing their voices, opposition and local democracy. There was a genuine feeling of hope and camaraderie from the attending crowd.
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The reckless over-deployment of industrial-scale renewables and the devastating infrastructure to encourage even more is leaving an environment torn up, habitats destroyed, communities reeling and widespread mental anguish.
Jamie Stone MP was in attendance and I sincerely hope he took away with him that the communities relentlessly targeted by Big Energy won't roll over for a pittance of community benefit. In fact the message was: we don't want any money, we want to be left in peace after more than a decade of abuse by the multinationals encouraged by the Scottish Government.
Kate Forbes MSP was conspicuous by her absence, as were senior Highland Council officials. The time for sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring the fury rumbling through our glens and communities has past, and they need to act for the people who pay their wages or lose their well-paid comfy seats.
Energy minister Gillian Martin also needs to take note, and her 'better consultation by developers' will NOT stop communities objecting to Big Energy's profit-driven, destructive proposals. Instead of refusing to meet campaigners, but having multiple meetings with the very developers wreaking havoc across rural Scotland, she should make an effort to understand the distress her policies are causing. Slashing response times to thousands of pages of planning applications by half for already overwhelmed lay people is thoughtless and cruel.
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In addition, the meeting heard how our health is being scoped out of planning applications with the agreement of Highland Council and the Scottish Government. It is totally unacceptable and morally reprehensible that developers are allowed to not address human health in their environmental impact assessments for any energy proposals. The recent discovery that the radioactive isotope Caesium 137 from the Chernobyl fallout is potentially still sequestered in peat in significant quantities and is possibly being reactivated when excavated is a major cause for concern, not only for those who live near construction on peat (including the wildlife) but also for the workers digging it up. If we don't even test, how do we know it is not being reintroduced into water courses, private water supplies, grazing land and the atmosphere? Do the permitting authorities even know what the cumulative impact of regular exposure will be in the years to come? Is it a case of 'if you don't look you won't find, therefore it doesn't exist'?
Rural Scotland and its people need protecting from the ruthless and profit-riven global investment colonisers who see them and where they live as collateral damage. I hope more will be inspired by what happened in Beauly on Saturday and join the growing swell of true environmentalists who have had enough of the damage caused by Big Energy and their enablers in the Scottish Government.
Lyndsey Ward
Communities B4 power Companies
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