Wind farms ‘are destroying rural communities’

Wind farms are “turbocharging” rural depopulation in parts of Scotland and having a devastating effect on local communities, campaigners have claimed.

Activists fighting what they describe as the “21st-century clearances” say rural homes are “collateral damage” in the advance of the developments, which they complain are being waved through by the Scottish government regardless of the cost to local communities.

Scotland Against Spin (SAS) claims this has led to properties being taken out of the national housing stock in areas where there is already a chronic shortage and caused unimaginable stress for the residents affected.

Its concerns are shared by the Scottish Conservative MSP Oliver Mundell, who said: “There is no doubt large-scale onshore wind farms are turbocharging rural depopulation in our upland valleys and destroying communities, denying local families a home.

“Developers are increasingly gaming the planning system and encouraging those with properties in close proximity to turbine sites to sell up and shut up.

“When they own the properties, they don’t have to provide noise estimates or planning evaluations for the houses in question and simply mothball them or rent them out to their own contractors.”

The Dumfriesshire MSP added: “I have repeatedly raised concerns about this damaging practice both at local inquiries and also in Holyrood but the Scottish government turns a blind eye and just nods these projects through.”

SAS says developers buy up homes to silence those objecting to wind farms on their doorstep and include non-disclosure orders as part of the deal.

Scotland is on course to almost double the number of onshore turbines to more than 7,500, with the number of wind farms set to increase to almost 600.

Data obtained under a freedom of information request showed there are 334 operational Scottish wind farms, running 4,273 turbines, with a further 29 wind farms under construction set to deliver an additional 640 turbines. There are an additional 96 wind farm sites awaiting construction that will add another 1,058 turbines, and there are also applications under consideration for 115 sites and 1,555 turbines.

Graham Lang, SAS chairman, said: “The general pattern sees wind farm developers buy up properties where the impact of the facility will be unacceptable for various reasons and often render them derelict and or dangerous so that, if need be, permission to demolish is then easily obtained from the local authority.”

He said a number of homes had also been made potentially uninhabitable because their private water supplies have been disrupted or irreparably damaged during wind farm construction, such as during the construction of Whitelee wind farm on Eaglesham Moor near Glasgow, the biggest onshore wind farm in the UK, where the community is said to have lost four private water supplies to properties.

SAS claims developers dangle huge offers for homes standing in the path of developments that owners have little choice but to accept.

Lang said: “Quite often the value of homes has been massively reduced because of their close proximity to planned wind farms and would be difficult for the existing owners to find buyers.

“Thus, when wind farm developers swoop in with an attractive offer, owners are left with little realistic option but to agree to sell or be left with a worthless property.

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“Either that or they face having to stay put and then live with all the negative downsides of being in close proximity to wind turbines, such as the impact of noise, pollution or potential loss of their only water supply, as well as flicker not just during the day but at night from aviation safeguarding lights.

“When they do have to accept the operator’s offer they are made to sign an NDA and the whole murky business is swept under the carpet and democracy is stifled on a very important issue.”

Cheshire-based Community Windpower Limited (CWL), which operates eight wind farms in Scotland, with a further three consented and an additional two in development, say that buying up properties in advance of major infrastructure developments is “common practice”.

It confirmed it had bought properties in Scaur Glen in Dumfriesshire, where it had planned the Sanquhar 2 wind farm, before shelving the 44-turbine project, claiming the UK government’s “unfair” windfall tax on renewable power plants had rendered it uneconomic.

A spokesman for CWL added: “In Sanquhar, we bought three properties, at objectively fair prices, from owners who were keen to sell. We are planning to use two of the properties for holiday lets, while the other will be used by our staff and their families.”

Stop Sanquhar 2 wind farm, a local campaign group which opposed the development, disputes CWL’s claims that owners in Scaur Glen were keen to sell and say they had been very settled in their “forever” homes until plans for the wind farm emerged.

The three historic properties were close to the Sanquhar 2 wind farm site and would have been most impacted by it, say campaigners.

A Scottish government spokesman said: “National planning framework 4, approved by the Scottish parliament earlier this year, is making sure the planning system enables the sustainable growth of the renewable sector while continuing to protect our most valued natural assets and cultural heritage.

“Scotland has some of the most stringent environmental impact regulations anywhere in the world and our planning and consenting system ensures that local communities can always have their say.”

A ScottishPower Renewables spokesman said: “In over three decades of developing and operating 39 onshore wind farms across the UK and Ireland, we have acquired a total of six properties through voluntary land agreements with the owners.”