East Lothian’s most famous son would be ‘turning in his grave’ at plans to put 200-metre high wind turbines on one of county’s historic landscapes a public inquiry heard.
Scottish Ministers are holding hearings into the plans for the wind farm and battery energy storage site at Newland Hill, near Gifford, after East Lothian Council objected to the proposals.
And as the hearings opened on Monday evening in a packed Gifford village hall, the community had their first chance to voice their views on the plans of the inquiry.
The county’s environmental hero John Muir, who was born in Dunbar and is known as the ‘father’ of America’s national parks which he helped establish in his lifetime, was mentioned by local residents who urged the Scottish Government Reporter to look at the special landscape character of the surrounding Lammermuir Hills and consider the impact of the plans.
Several community councils were represented and one local resident summed up much of the views on the plans saying: “John Muir would be turning in his grave.”
The public inquiry comes as the project which is decided by the Scottish Government’s Energy Consent Unit faced formal opposition from the local authority.
In September 2024 at a meeting of East Lothian Council’s planning committee elected members voted to lodge a formal objection to the plans by Belltown Power for 15 turbines, after declaring ‘enough is enough’.
Council leader Norman Hampshire hit back at the number of wind farm proposals being put forward for the East Lothian countryside which has been seen as a prime spot for renewables for decades.
Councillor Hampshire said at the time: “There is a limit to how much our landscape can take or it will be destroyed completely. You can’t have the whole of East Lothian covered in wind turbines.”
At the initial session, yesterday evening, this view was repeated by residents representatives who called on the Reporter to consider the cumulative effect of wind farms already approved in the county.
Linda Shaw Stewart spoke to the hearing on behalf of Dunpender Community Council, one of several community groups taking part in the hearing.
She said: “East Lothian is already making an enormous contribution to this form of energy generation. Can this additional windfarm really be justified when considered alongside the massive amount of existing and proposed renewable infrastructure off our coast and in our county?
“Although each individual project may appear acceptable on its own, we believe the Reporter has to consider the total effect in relation to an overwhelming series of neighbouring developments.
“We are really worried about the visual impact. This project is in complete conflict with East Lothian’s SLA (Special Landscape Areas) guidance.
“The proposed turbines as massively bigger than anything else in this part of the Lammermuirs. They will without doubt dominate important views and skylines and the night lighting will be deeply intrusive within this rural landscape.”
Concerns were also raised about the damage to the area not just from the turbines, but access roads to be used in their construction and eventual decommissioning as well as whether the proposal would haven a valid impact on the environment.
Mark Hoskyns-Abrahall, a Stenton resident who works as a chartered accountant and had worked with a range of energy sector firms, told the hearing he believed the turbines proposed were too big and the damage the scheme would cause to the surrounding countryside was too great.
He said: “Newlands would contribute to reducing carbon emissions a bit but compared to much larger developments principally offshore I do not believe its contribution is sufficient to justify the environmental cost.”
The hearing sessions will continue this week.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
