I WILL not be the only one of your readers to be appalled at the casual approval of no fewer than seven run-of-river hydro schemes in Glen Etive following a site visit by Highland councillors this week.
I use the term “casual” intentionally. There has been no genuine attempt by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to protect the qualities of the National Scenic Area in which Glen Etive sits; no serious attempt by planners to consider the true environmental fallout from such blatant industrialisation of a historically valuable and much loved landscape; and no attempt by councillors to see past the soothing reassurances of their advisers, who though it sufficient to view all seven sites from the road.
Those of us who read the planning applications from cover to cover before objecting on material grounds are in no doubt that the applicant cannot and will not be able to “mitigate” the adverse effects of these developments. We are also in no doubt that our objections counted for nothing in the scales. So much for planning democracy. This disastrous decision proves, if proof were still needed, that there is no place in Scotland that is not suitable for run-of-river hydro development – or, indeed, any other industrial development, provided it ticks the green box and fills the coffers of landowners and developers with a token sop thrown to the local community.
The glibness of this Government’s claims that Scottish planning policy is robust and ensures only the right schemes are built in the right places has been shown for what it is. Deception is the kindest word I can think of; no doubt your readers will find other, stronger epithets.
The Scottish Government should now call in these applications and order a public inquiry to demonstrate to the people of this country, a country whose natural heritage now lies in tatters, that it genuinely cares about planning democracy and the views of its citizens. With all due respect to the local community who backed the developer’s applications, Glen Etive is a landscape of national significance and should not be destroyed to compensate for a lack of interest and investment by local landowners.
Jane M Meek,
75 Glasgow Road, Blanefield.
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