Group calls for national renewables policy

MOFFAT’S community council has joined hundreds of other communities calling for a moratorium on commercial renewable energy applications.

The group have penned a letter showing their support for the Convention of the Highlands and Islands, which seeks to amplify the voices of those concerned about the industrialisation of natural landscapes and calls to pause large-scale energy infrastructure developments until a clear national energy strategy is in place.

Since 2022, over 30 major energy projects, including windfarms with turbines exceeding 200 metres, have been approved in Dumfries and Galloway alone.

Moffat has had its own share of issues relating to windfarm and BESS applications, with many residents repeatedly raising concerns about the impact of such projects on the area’s landscapes and tourism.

Writing to pledge their support of the convention, Moffat and District Community Council stated: “There is an apparent lack of any coordinated overall strategy, regarding the location of energy capture installations, the size and scale of those energy capture and storage installations, and the overall capacity being planned.

“The further absence of an appropriate financial environment to justify these developments, given the current complex environment with subsidies, guaranteed output values/revenues, constraint payments etc. makes the lack of a clear strategy even more challenging to accept.

“We recognise the impact of climate change, and are not opposed to renewable energy developments, but we do oppose the unstructured industrialisation of any part of rural Scotland, in particular the Highlands and South West Scotland.

“We join the urgent call for a moratorium on all applications with potential negative effects on communities and landscapes, until a clear coordinated national policy is in place, one that recognises that tourism is a key element of our local economies, and local democracy and consultation process’s are recognised and listened to, especially in the Highlands and in the South West of Scotland.”