CLASHINDARROCH UPDATE- A MUST READ

Hi All

As promised here is an update on the Clashindarroch windfarm. 

Some of you may have heard, but most of you may not be aware, that the Sottish Ministers have given approval for the second Clashindarroch windfarm to go ahead. We are of course appalled that this has occurred despite the increasing weight being given to the Biodiversity crisis. It is incomprehensible to us that Ministers would allow a development which Vattenfall themselves (an entirely Swedish owned company), concede would impact on at least 5 wildcat territories. The Clashindarroch was also agreed to be a site of National significance for the Scottish wildcat.

Further evidence submitted by Vattenfall said that ‘Hence, the construction phase presents potential hazards that can lead to the killing of kittens in particular, or to the displacement of wildcats’. We cannot understand how any Minister could sign this off ? 

There are many questions that remain and the fight is not over yet.

Here is a brief overview of where we are up to and how we have arrived at this point. After the first Public Inquiry in which we participated, the Reporter (the person who assesses the windfarm application) recommended to the Scottish Ministers that the windfarm be refused. However, and this is the crucial bit, this information was not made public until June 2023. We had not idea at all. 

In early December 2022, we received a formal letter from the DPEA stating ‘Scottish Ministers, through the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA), are currently considering an appeal made to them by Vattenfall Wind Power Ltd for the above development’. This strongly suggests that Vattenfall had seen the recommendation for refusal and launched an appeal. The other objectors including ourselves, immediately raised the vital point that we had no idea any decision had been made. It looked like Vattenfall were privy to information that none of the other participants had access to. Following this backlash another correspondence was sent from the DPEA and this time it read, ‘The decision to hold a further hearing is in response to a request from the Scottish Ministers that the reporter’s inquiry report should now include further information on the implications of the most recent version of the fourth National Planning Framework.  It is not a response to any correspondence submitted to the reporter by Vattenfall Wind Power Ltd’. The 2 statements are entirely contradictory. We will let you make your own minds up about what actually happened. 

It gets stranger. Following the second Public Inquiry hearing in January 2023, the reporter changed her recommendation from refusal to approval. Shortly after this, the Scottish Ministers signed it off giving Vattenfall the go ahead…….

What next?

Well as you know by now, we don’t give up easily and the fight is not over yet. As soon as we found out about the approval, we immediately started looking at legal routes to challenge and reverse the decision. The route for this is called a Judicial Review. So, we instructed one of the most experienced planning barristers in Scotland and an extremely experienced law firm, and for the past few months we have been working tirelessly to put together our case. We are very pleased to tell you that not only have we lodged our application to the Court, but that we now have permission from the court to proceed. This is the crucial first hurdle to overcome. There is now a preliminary hearing on the 8th December and a full hearing in January. This is a very serious business and will be held in the Court of Session. So it’s not over yet, the wildcats still have a voice and if it wasn’t for your support which allows us to keep fighting, they would have none and their home would be bulldozed. 

Our legal case to overturn the approval of Vattenfall’s plans is the only hope the precious wildcats that live there have. There are multiple barristers, solicitors and paralegals working on our case and as you can imagine, this is not a cheap undertaking. It will cost tens of thousands (despite all parties working on a restricted fee basis). 

We simply cannot give up now and we need your support more than ever, so if you want to help us keep fighting for the Clashndarroch wildcats, then please go to:

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/wildcats/

FYI, we have the been fighting this legal battle for over 4 years and so the sum on the Crowdfunder is the cumulative amount, not the amount available, which is of course far, far less. 

Many thanks as always and we will keep you posted.

The Wildcat Haven Team,