This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Sheildaig hydro power scheme refused
16/03/2004
Scottish Ministers have refused the application by
Highland Light and Power Limited for consent for a
Hydro-Electric Generating Station at sites around Shieldaig
and Slattadale in Wester Ross.
The plans involved constructing four new weirs,
transferring water through a buried pipeline, building new
turbine houses and other modifications to existing water
courses and lochs in the area.
Deputy Enterprise Minister Lewis Macdonald said :
"We have a responsibility to balance renewable energy
benefits with potential. negative impacts on the
environment and local communities.
"In this instance the potential impact of this scheme,
now and in the future, on an area of national and
international significance is simply too high and outweighs
the potential benefits."
The scheme would have provided 3.55 MW, generating
enough electricity to supply around 5,300 homes.
Widespread consultation on the proposed scheme was
carried out - 848 members of the public objected, while six
people wrote in to support the scheme.
Many organisations objected to the scheme including
Torridon and Kinlochewe Community Council, the John Muir
Trust, and the Mountaineering Council for Scotland.
Highland Council did not object to the scheme and Gairloch
Community Council expressed their support.
Ministers have decide they have enough information to
make the decision without the need for a Public
Inquiry.
As part of the process the applicant was given an
opportunity to respond to Ministerial concerns at the end
of last year. Their response did not alleviate these
concerns and the decision to refuse the application was
taken.
The area of the proposed Shieldaig/Slattadale
hydro-electric generating scheme is located in an area of
mountain and lochs known as the Shieldaig and Flowerdale
Forests within, or close to, a number of nationally and
internationally designated sites recognised for their
specific importance with respect to landscape character and
because of the presence of both European and UK protected
plants and animals.
The designations include the Wester Ross National Scenic
Area (NSA), important for its variety of landscape types;
the River Kerry Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
and candidate Special Area of Conservation (cCSA),
important for its population of freshwater pearl mussels,
salmon and sea trout; the Loch Maree SSSI/Special
Protection Area (SPA)/Ramsar (wetland of national
importance), important for its water and woodland habitat,
its bird and invertebrate species and its geology; and the
Loch Maree Complex cSAC, important for its variety of plant
habitats, otters etc.
Schedule 3 of the Environmental Impact Assessment
Regulations outline what factors Ministers should consider
in arriving at a determination:
- Characteristics of the development (size, use of
natural resources, waste pollution)
- Location of the development (existing land use,
regenerative capacity of natural resources and the
capacity of the natural resources to absorb the
development)
- Characteristics of the potential impact (extent,
magnitude and complexity of the impact, probability of
the impact, duration and reversibility of the
impact)
The Executive is responsible for determining
applications for consent under the Electricity Act 1989.
These are required for electricity generating stations with
an installed capacity in excess of 50 MW, or in excess of 1
MW in respect of hydro electricity.
Since 1999 they have approved five proposals for wind
farms and four proposals for hydro power stations. This
Shieldaig application is the first to be refused since
devolution.