from Sunday Herald, 01 March 2015
The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is being asked to investigate the conduct of her own Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, after he was accused of blocking one windfarm to pave the way for another backed by the Duke of Buccleuch, Britain's largest private landowner.
The accusations – which are denied by the Scottish Government and Buccleuch – have been prompted by Ewing’s shock decision on 18 February to reject a popular plan to erect 30 wind turbines at Sandy Knowe at Kirkconnel in Dumfries and Galloway. The planning application attracted 81 representations of support, and only two objections.
The Buccleuch estate had originally objected to the application, but withdrew its submission in March 2014. On 12 February 2015 a company involving Buccleuch gave formal notice that it would be applying for planning permission for eight wind turbines at nearby Glenmuckloch, an old opencast coal mine.
One of the reasons given by Ewing for rejecting Sandy Knowe was that the landscape could be damaged by a "coalescence between potential clusters” of wind turbines. He was concerned that the cumulative visual impact of multiple developments could turn the area into a “windfarm landscape”.
This has led political opponents to accuse Ewing of rejecting Sandy Knowe so that Glenmuckloch would have a clear run. They question whether his behaviour complies with the Scottish Government’s code on ministerial conduct.
The accusations are dismissed by the Scottish Government, which insists that every wind farm application is considered on its merits. Buccleuch also took strong exception to the allegations, describing the suggestion that undue influence had been exerted on Ewing as “offensive, inaccurate and absurd”.
Critics, however, point out that this is the second time that Ewing has come under fire over his decisions in relation to Buccleuch projects. The Sunday Herald reported in January that he incurred the private ire of his fellow SNP MSP, Joan McAlpine, after carpeting her for criticising Buccleuch’s plans to mine coalbed methane at Canonbie.
Labour’s front bench legal spokeswoman and the MSP for Dumfriesshire, Elaine Murray, is this weekend writing to Sturgeon requesting an investigation into Ewing’s conduct. “My worry is that the minister has been unduly influenced by Buccleuch,” she said.
Prospects for the estate’s Glenmuckloch application would have been damaged if Sandy Knowe had been given the go ahead because of the cumulative impact of the two developments, she argued.
Murray added: “I am furious that, when communities across my constituency are having wind farms foisted on them against their wishes, an application which has strong community support had been refused for what seems to be dubious reasons.”
She pointed out that Sandy Knowe had been approved by Dumfries and Galloway Council. Though the government’s landscape advisor, Scottish Natural Heritage, had expressed “serious concerns” about the visual impact, it had decided not to object to the application.
The developer, Burcote Wind in Dunfermine, had promised to pay £11.25 million over 25 years into a community development fund if Sandy Knowe had gone ahead. “All those involved in the process are totally shocked that this opportunity has been taken away with a stroke of the Energy Minister’s pen," said local Labour councillor, John Syme.
The Green MSP, Patrick Harvie MSP, backed the call for a probe by Sturgeon. “If the local community are to have any confidence in the decision,” he said, “the First Minister must investigate what influence Scotland’s wealthiest landowners enjoy within her ministerial team.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “We strongly rebut this allegation - every wind farm application is considered on its own merits.” She pointed out that Ewing had recently refused consents on three other windfarms at Glenmorie in Sutherland, Fauch Hill in West Lothian and Newfield near Lockerbie.
She added. “After careful consideration of the environmental information, consultee responses and public representations, ministers came to the view that the wind farm would have had unacceptable landscape and visual impacts.”
Buccleuch’s chief executive, John Glen, said: “Any suggestion that Buccleuch exerted undue influence over a government minister is offensive, inaccurate and absurd. Anyone making such an accusation clearly does not know what they are talking about.”
He explained that Buccleuch's objection to Sandy Knowe had been withdrawn because the estate’s position on onshore wind energy had “evolved” in recent years. “From an initial general opposition to windfarms, we went on to take the view they could be supported in appropriate locations,” he said.
“We withdrew our objection because we felt it would be an inconsistent position if we were to proceed with our own project in the same location at any time in the future. Any suggestion that that decision, or the fate of the Sandy Knowe application, was dependent on the progress of our own small scheme is preposterous.”
Glen pointed out that the plan to restore Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine involved four other major partners and had been widely welcomed across the political divide. The application would be determined by councillors, and neither the Scottish Government nor any minister would be involved.
Burcote Wind is now reviewing options for Sandy Knowe. “We are saddened and disappointed the Scottish Government has decided not to agree with local opinion by refusing consent,” said the company’s operations director, Fraser Campbell.
The Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, was the subject of a complaint to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, in November 2014 over his support for the Duke of Buccleuch’s plans to exploit underground coal gas. He was criticised by the SNP MSP for South Scotland, Joan McAlpine, after he had carpeted her for opposing Buccleuch's plans.
Her complaints were denied by Ewing, who announced a temporary moratorium on onshore gas developments a few days after his dispute with McAlpine was revealed by the Sunday Herald.
Ewing is regarded as one of the most right-wing members of the SNP government. His official register of interests shows that in March 2013 he owned £44,000 worth of shares in Blackrock World Mining, a major global mining company, which he has since sold.
Richard Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch, can trace his ancestry back to an illegitimate son of King Charles II more than 350 years ago. He inherited his titles when his father died in September 2007.
Scott now chairs the family business, which owns 260,000 acres of land, much of it in the south of Scotland, and runs a series of energy, food, property and tourism enterprises. His family has stately homes at Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway, Bowhill House, near Selkirk, and Boughton House in Northamptonshire.
Comments