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The National
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
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. READ MORE: 53 community councils demand Scottish Highland energy projects pause 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. READ MORE: Taynuilt battery storage site application set to go to public hearing 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
The National
09-05-2025
- General
- The National
Can Big Energy's Highland gravy train be halted by court action?
More than a decade ago, the then Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) produced an annual wind farm map – nothing like the one we see today, but alarming enough for the press to publish and show readers how the devastation was creeping across the Highlands. There was outrage as more people became alerted to how the Highlands were turning into one giant wind factory by stealth. READ MORE: Scottish island's historic A-listed castle 'must be sold', report says After a couple of years, in 2014, SNH no longer produced the map. We were informed the Scottish Government was 'taking over' its updating and publication. It never happened, and repeated requests for an update fell on deaf ears. We were then promised wild land protection from industrialisation. That has now fallen by the wayside along with the hopes and dreams of those who live and work in the Highlands. What we have now is simply astonishing. Ministers talk to Big Energy but not to campaigners. They accept 'support' from wind developers but won't support their constituents who are reeling from the onslaught of multiple planning applications flooding into their local authorities. The First Minister employs advisers from the industry but his advice to those suffering emotionally, financially and mentally might as well be 'put up and shut up', for all the compassion he and his government has shown those who pay their very lucrative wages. READ MORE: Led By Donkeys crush a Tesla with a tank in latest stunt We have recently discovered that Big Energy is permitted by the government and local councils to NOT address human health impacts in their Environmental Impact Assessment Reports. Topics like EMF, RFI, air quality, major accidents and disasters etc have been 'scoped out' across the board. Is it because they don't want to be held liable if their developments cause us or our children illness? We know that multinationals have been held to account previously and successfully sued for millions for damaging the health of citizens because they put profit before people. If folk can't get justice from those responsible because the authorities gave them a 'get out of jail free' card then they will be going after the councils and government instead. Highland protectors have had enough. They fought to get their map in the public domain, albeit still lacking some developments, and now realise the only way to stop this rogue and power-crazy government is through the courts. It's going to be a bumpy ride to hold these charlatans to account but we fully intend to throw a legal stinger under the wheels of Big Energy's gravy train. Lyndsey Ward Communities B4 Power Companies, Beauly WHAT does Nicola Sturgeon consider to be the necessities of health and wellbeing in Scotland today? In the usual catastrophising hyperbole that characterises those who have squandered much of their political mandate and parliamentary time on gender ideology, the former first minister has added to the burden of gender dysphoric lives by claiming that 'their lives could become unliveable' as a result of the Supreme Court judgment on biological sex. READ MORE: Joanna Cherry slates Nicola Sturgeon response to Supreme Court ruling This inflammatory rhetoric and totally unjustified fearmongering will once again play to the small angry and bitter faction within the transgender community that risks alienating their more meek brethren further from their friends and neighbours. The transgender persona has been for years at the centre of the Scottish political discourse and mercifully they have received by guarantee all of the elements necessary to 'live a life' so absent from other regimes world wide – namely food, shelter, the protection of the law from violence, copious amounts of free speech and an equality provision in law. Unfortunately many of our transgender compatriots lack the full opportunity to live a 'good life' in a modern Scotland beset by poverty, inequality, precarious employment and a pandemic of mental distress directly related to an economic paradigm that has immiserated people across the land. READ MORE: Andrew Tickell: Supreme Court ruling is bogus excuse for dropping misogyny bill Every minute of political focus on culture wars over the last 10 years has diverted attention from finding economic and constitutional solutions. The people of this country (hetero/bisexual/non-binary/ trans/queer etc etc) are utterly sick listening to Nicola and her legacy woke, continuity SNP time-wasters who took their eye off the constitutional ball they were mandated to play, rendered poor governance and made a significant contribution to the existential angst of many by failing to conceive a hopeful vision for our children and grandchildren free of Westminster exploitation! If you want to make transgender lives 'liveable', Nicola et al, then restart the process of transforming day-to-day unhappiness by adopting a laser focus on bringing about the constitutional change which some economists are beginning to see as a 'sine qua non' of future health and prosperity in Scotland. After 10 years of collaboration and self-care in an independent Scotland there there will be much less 'dysphoria' of every kind. Of that I am utterly convinced, and many far more eminent than I in the real world and in authentic academia agree! Dr Andrew Docherty Selkirk
