Stornoway Wind Farm plans move forward following Court of Session decision

The Stornoway Trust has welcomed a decision by the Court of Session which allows plans for a wind farm to move closer to becoming reality.
The Stornoway Trust has welcomed the court decision which makes the wind farm project more likely to go ahead.The Stornoway Trust has welcomed the court decision which makes the wind farm project more likely to go ahead.
The Stornoway Trust has welcomed the court decision which makes the wind farm project more likely to go ahead.

The Court of Session has upheld a decision made by the Crofting Commission, and subsequently sustained by the Scottish Land Court, not to grant applications made by four townships under section50b of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.

In an appeal hearing held last month, the Court of Session heard that the Commission’s adjudication was that approval of the 50b application would be to the detriment of the landlord, which had an existing lease agreement with Lewis Wind Power for the creation of a wind farm in the same area.

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It is this view which has now been verified by the Court of Session.

Responding to the verdict, Stornoway Trust Chairman, Norman A Maciver, said: “In this case, the landlord is the community and so, approval of the 50b application made by these four townships would have been detrimental to the Stornoway Trust Estate as a whole, and to the wider interests of the Western Isles.

“We are grateful to the Court of Session for coming to such a speedy conclusion in this matter and I hope that the townships, having had time to reflect, would not now want to damage a project which will ultimately benefit not only their own shareholders but the whole community.”

The Stornoway Wind Farm Project would see 25 turbines erected on land owned by the Stornoway Trust, a publicly elected body which manages the Stornoway Trust Estate on behalf of the local community.

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Iain Maciver, Factor of the Stornoway Trust, said: “We are relieved that the Stornoway Wind Farm project can finally now move forward.

“At this present moment, the Western Isles economy is in need of as much good news as it can get.

“It has always been the Trust’s belief that our close collaboration with the Comhairle, and in the partnership between ourselves as landlord, and Lewis Wind Power as developer, we have the best chance of creating meaningful development in this area: development which will have a positive impact on the Estate in its entirety.

“I believe this is not just good news for the Trust, but ironically also for the appellants, who, in my view, would have been exposing themselves and those they represent to considerable risk had they been successful in their ill-advised actions.

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“As things currently stand, however, if the project proceeds as planned, they too can look forward to a share of rental revenues, which to them will be worth in excess of half a million pounds per annum.’