A PUBLIC meeting hosted by Shetland’s community councils this weekend will call on the Scottish Government to pause the consent of energy developments until a proper strategy is put in place.
The Shetland Energy Convention follows similar events held in Scotland over the last 12 months, all reflecting growing community concern about the scale of the proposed energy developments in rural areas.
The event, which will be attended by Shetland MSP Hannah Mary Goodlad, two Highland and Islands list MSPs and MP Alistair Carmichael, will give Shetland’s community councils the opportunity to put their concerns directly to politicians.
The meeting has been called following the growing realisation in the community that Shetland Islands Council has little or no powers to influence developments locally.
There are currently 18 separate energy projects, planned, proposed or under way either on the islands and offshore, including large infrastructure works by SSEN Transmission to connect various projects.
Vice-chair of the Association of Shetland Community Council (ASCC), Andrew Archer, said: “We know that this is an issue of great concern for many people in Shetland, and that’s reflected in the fact that more than half of Shetland’s community councils have said that they want to speak.”
He said the convention, scheduled to last for two hours, takes place on Saturday at 10.30am in room 16 at the Islesburgh Community Centre.
The meeting is open to the public, and people are welcome to come along to listen and watch.
Following her introductory remarks, the meeting will hear from representatives of 10 of Shetland’s 16 community councils before the national politicians present will be invited to respond to what they have heard.
“The only way things can change is if our politicians decide that they should,” Archer said.
He said he would like to see the government ordering a planning enquiry commission that would halt consent for any further renewable developments until a national strategy has been developed, communities affected are listened to and community wealth building and ownership of energy developments have become compulsory.
He said it is his understanding that such a planning inquiry commission could be ordered by the Scottish minister responsible for planning, which in this case is Shetland’s newly elected MSP Hannah Mary Goodlad.
“Our message to her is: ‘fantastic, here is the person who has the power to do this’.
“I know she said she can’t make decisions solely for Shetland, but this is not about Shetland, it’s about rural communities across Scotland.”
Asked if this approach was realistic, Archer responded by saying that the Scottish Government could do much more than it currently does.
“The Scottish Government has used its energy consenting and planning powers to effectively put a veto on all nuclear power developments in Scotland.
“There is a huge amount more the Scottish Government could do if it wanted to, it could apply those powers to any energy developments, but it currently chooses not to.
“The power for a planning enquiry commission rests directly with the Scottish Government. Yes, it doesn’t have all the powers that it wants, but there is a lot more that it could do than is currently does.”
And he added: “The reality is that things will only change if Holyrood changes. Is Holyrood going to change the rules? I don’t know.
“I know that if we don’t try then certainly nothing will happen and all these proposed developments will be forced upon us.
“I just see it as something that we have to do (…) and if we don’t do this then the chance to change things is zero.”
