Just before she resigned as First Minister in March 2013 Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish Government pushed through the Scottish Parliament what were described as “radical” changes in planning policy. This included giving the green light to any renewable developments, of whatever scale, that would help to meet UK renewable energy targets, emphasising that Scotland’s 42 Wild Land Areas were now open for such radical change.

Step forward every developer of wind farms and pump storage hydro schemes, from multinational conglomerate to corporate cowboy. At a stroke Sturgeon destroyed the work of her predecessor, Alex Salmond, who balanced the landscape impacts of renewable energy developments with the introduction of Wild Land Area (WLA) notifications to safeguard the best of Scotland’s natural beauty from such industrial scale development. Salmond’s WLA initiative had put Scotland at the forefront of European efforts to protect wild places and wilderness values across the continent; all squandered by Sturgeon’s love affair with corporate interests and their UK government allies.

The latest example of Sturgeon’s folly, and an indelible stain on her diminishing credibility and reputation, is the recent announcement by the UK energy regulator, Ofgem, of provisional approval for the Lochan na h-Earba pump storage scheme between Dalwhinnie and Spean Bridge. This will have a massive impact on the Rannoch – Nevis – Mamores – Alder WLA (see here for map and description).  Despite being described as the most massive hydro scheme to be built in the last 40 years in the UK, the project was never subject to public inquiry where lawyers could have tested the validity of the developer’s claims against the undoubted damage to Scotland’s natural beauty. The Earba scheme is one of three granted provisional approval by Ofgem, but is far worse than the others two, above Loch Ness and Loch Lochy, neither of which will impact any WLAs.

My recent letter, published by the Daily Telegraph in response to the Ofgem announcement, summarises the problem.  The original article  (see here) stated that even from the representative body for such developments in the UK have concerns about these prospective hydro developments. It reported Kate Gilmartin, from the British Hydropower Association, as saying:

“These schemes are major civil engineering projects, and it would be wrong to pretend they have no impact. They must be assessed rigorously……. The test should be: Is the impact understood, minimised, mitigated and outweighed by the long-term public benefit?”

It is obvious that alternative pump storage schemes can be developed above Loch Ness and Loch Lochy without the serious damage proposed for the WLA where Earba is located. And without setting a precedent for further damage to any one of Scotland’s other WLAs through misguided renewables developments.

Two conclusions can be drawn from the Earba fiasco:

Firstly, the Scottish Government and Parliament must amend the planning rules, asap, to prevent large scale renewables developments taking place in WLAs and avoid future mistakes like Earba.

Secondly, if Earba goes ahead throughout the construction phase, over several years, there will repeated publicity to demonstrate the adverse impact of Ofgem decisions on Scotland’s wild places. There could be no better evidence, for anyone who loves the outdoors and its natural beauty, why an independent Scotland, freed from the control of corporate interests and  UK organisations, is the best way forward.

The Laggan Community Council Facebook Page has a useful summary of what is happening at Lochan na h-Earba and further photographs (see here).