MSP branded "Rip van Winkle” over windfarm
A call by Western Isles MSP, Alasdair Allan, for a public inquiry into plans for Spiorad na Mara windfarm to the west of Lewis has been greeted with puzzlement and derision, while welcomed by anti-windfarm campaigners.
The process to offer the N4 site, as it was designated in the ScotWind programme, began in 2020 and the option to develop it was sold to Northland Power in August 2022, with the proceeds going directly to the Scottish Government.
A decision by Ofgem to approve the interconnector between Lewis and the mainland hinged directly on the ScotWind options and work has proceeded on developing associated infrastructure.
However, the first indication of Mr Allan’s belief that a public inquiry will be required came this week in a post on Facebook in which he stated: “One of the options that lies ahead would be for ministers to authorise a public enquiry (sic) as part of the planning process.
“In writing to the Scottish Government recently, I indicated my view that, such is the number of people expressing views on this issue locally, that the threshold has in my own opinion been met for Ministers to consider such a public enquiry. That, however, is a question that will have to be independently considered as part of the planning process”.
Councillors are unable to comment as they will be part of that process. However one source expressed astonishment over the MSP’s intervention, saying: “He knows perfectly well that the planning process hasn’t even begun and will not be completed until well after next May’s election.
“My guess is that his interest in a public inquiry will last until the votes are counted and will disappear as suddenly as it arose. It’s completely irresponsible”.
However, the campaign group “Save Our Island” welcomed Mr Allan’s statement and shared it on Facebook, though one early comment was: “Rip van Winkle has woken up” while another described it as “a laughable attempt at addressing an issue that has been screamed about for years”.
MP Torcuil Crichton described the intervention as “Facebook flam from the Nowhere man of the Western Isles who has engaged in more online activity in the last 18 months than actual activity in the last 18 years”.
Mr Crichton said: “It was Alasdair Allan’s government which licensed the N4 site without consulting anyone. Where was he then?
“It was his government that was prepared to lease the ScotWind sites for a tenth of what they finally achieved and even then they were undersold. It was his government that took the £700 million raised and held it centrally.
“Where was he when the islands council was shortchanged with Crown Estate funding and where was he when the community-owned estates negotiated their own community fund with the operators?
“The offshore development will be decided through a national process by Marine Scotland run by his government anyway and the onshore part by the council, as it should be. Alasdair Allan knows all this but suddenly he’s found his voice online because his job is at stake.”