Letters / Concerns reinforced by council response to petition
Save Shetland is disappointed by the report presented to the Shetland Islands Council on Wednesday regarding the monitoring of the Viking Energy wind farm.
No reason to halt Viking Energy construction work, council report on petition says
It does not address the concerns expressed by the 1,200 signatories of our petition, but rather reinforces them.
It confirms our belief that truly independent monitoring is lacking. We are also disappointed with the councillors’ acceptance of the report, but welcome the criticism that individual councillors have expressed.
The report concludes: “To date, no breaches of planning conditions have been detected which would reasonably merit the wholesale suspension of construction work.”
In our opinion, however, the lack of a decommissioning bond is a serious breach of planning conditions, and much smaller developments (e.g. the Lerwick community garden and Eshaness steps) feel the full force of planning regulations, showing a discrepancy in how developments are treated.
In a letter in support of the petition sent to councillors on 15 March, we detail why we have come to the conclusion that monitoring is insufficient.
The letter was unfortunately not taken into consideration by the majority of councillors.
It can be found here: https://saveshetland.co.uk/petition-letter.html
Ernie Ramaker
on behalf of Save Shetland
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