Plans for a windfarm near Carpshaim in Dumfries and Galloway have been given the green light following a two year public enquiry which began in 2021.
The decision comes despite previous criticism from the local council who argued that the landscape was ‘incapable of accommodating the development’, mountaineers and walkers.
“We are boosting deployment of development capital and operation capabilities in the UK, which we regard as a high-potential market for developing onshore wind as well as solar and energy storage facilities,” said Boralex vice president and general manager Nicolas Wolff.
“This represents a great contribution to the geographic diversification of our activities, a key element of our strategic plan.”
“We are confident that our experienced UK team can get the pipeline successfully operational in the coming years and Shepherd’s Rig plays an important part in that plan”.
Project director Richard Frost said: “Shepherd’s Rig is a well-sited and designed project which will contribute to Scotland’s efforts to abate climate change and provide an opportunity for the local community and businesses to benefit further from onshore wind development.”
“I am delighted that we can now move forward with this project”.
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However opponents have expressed their upset at the decision, Scottish Conservative MP Finlay Carson told The Times newspaper: “It’s sadly like in so many cases that local democracy is just stepped over when local authorities don’t have the capacity to deal with the applications adequately.”
He added that most of his constituents were generally supportive of windfarms but said Galloway “had a disproportionately high number”.
Also commenting on the decision, Mountaineering Scotland CEO Stuart Younie said: “We recognise the need to deliver energy security for the people of Scotland and to move to renewable production as part of a commitment to tackling the climate crisis.”
“Our concern is that approval of this project in the last turbine-free part of the Galloway Hills will be the first of many more onshore wind projects that will be supported under the new Scottish Government planning policy, despite objections being submitted through the local planning process”.
