People living near the proposed site at Hunterston in North Ayrshire said they had not been properly consulted on the project, and many are fiercely opposed to the new power station on economic, environmental and medical grounds. One action group, Communities Opposed to New Coal at Hunterston (Conch), has appealed for a judicial review of the planning process that the Scottish Government followed.
Under the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework (NPF) a consultation was carried out to gauge opinion on a range of projects deemed nationally important to Scotland, but the campaigners have complained that Hunterston was not added until a separate annexe published after the initial consultation.
Clare Symonds of Planning Democracy, a voluntary group supporting Conch as part of its campaign to reform the planning process, said the case could set the ball rolling for a spate of similar actions.
She said: “According to EU legislation, they didn’t do their consultation correctly, and that has meant we can make a legal challenge. What we’re asking for is that the Hunterston power station is removed from the NPF, and if we’re successful that will have a big impact, and it sets a precedent. They’ve omitted several things they should have done, so I think we stand a good chance of winning.”
Among other complaints, the campaigners said publicity for the Hunterston consultation was carried only in the Edinburgh Gazette, a paper not widely available in North Ayrshire. Thus the government did not make enough effort to inform residents, they said, which could be a breach of domestic laws.
If they are unsuccessful, the action is likely to cost around £100,000, funded by contributions from the community and environment groups.
Though this case revolves around planning permission rather than the wider issue of coal power, the campaigners accused the government of hypocrisy for preaching a green agenda but still building fossil fuel plants.
A government spokesman said it would be “inappropriate” to comment, but added that the new planning system had increased local participation. The public could have its say on siting, design and environmental effects, he said, and the government would place a high importance on local opinions.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article