Scottish Beacon

I was worried about how the Scottish Parliamentary Election results were going to turn out. I’m a Black woman who has made Edinburgh her home for over thirty years and it’s worrying that hate and division are on the rise. Bigotry of every kind is now becoming acceptable under the guise of ‘free speech’ and polarisation of position is becoming the norm.

As Scotland’s first generation of wind farms approaches the end of its working life, researchers are arguing that the next phase of renewable energy development could become one of the country’s biggest opportunities for community ownership.

In May, elections took place across the UK – local in England and for the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales. In Scotland, 129 seats were up for elections, and while the SNP were able to retain power, what has dominated the news, not only in Scotland, but across the UK are the gains made by Reform UK, the right-wing political party. I am not a political commentator, with in-depth of knowledge to analyse political sways and decision-making.

Communities across Scotland risk missing out on a share of the wealth generated by renewable energy projects unless governments move quickly to strengthen support for shared ownership schemes, according to a new report. Research published by Scotland’s Community Climate Action Hubs and clean energy consultancy Regen argues that community ownership stakes in wind and solar developments could provide long-term funding for local climate and nature projects.

For years we have seen that no landscape is iconic enough to be invulnerable to development as the renewables revolution rolls out across Scotland. Think Flamingo Land. Now a massive development by Iberdrola threatens to change forever the seascape around the islands of Iona, and Mull and off Islay, Jura and Colonsay. The turbines will also be highly visible from Tiree, Staffa and the Treshnish Islands. You can see what it would look like here. The plans have met mass opposition from islanders.

More than 20 wind farms are failing to pay an agreed amount to locals. That could cost Scottish communities over £50m. Since 2014, the Scottish Government has recommended that onshore wind developers pay £5,000 to nearby communities each year for every megawatt installed. The government has recently proposed increasing it to £6,000 – but both this and the existing rate are considered too low by many campaigners.

Inland, to the west is Fetteresso Forest, already home to one substation – and the site of SSEN’s proposed Hurlie substation. This massive piece of electrical infrastructure is key to the onward transmission south of ScotWind generation via the proposed Kintore to Tealing 400 kV overhead line.

“I can remember it like yesterday. I don’t think you ever forget it, to be honest.” It was 20 years ago to the day that Sakchai Makhao was awoken from his sleep by immigration officials in his Lerwick bedroom and threatened with deportation back to his native Thailand. Disorientated and “half-asleep”, he was flown to the UK mainland where he ended up in the maximum security prison in Durham with only days left to appeal.

Scotland has become a world leader in wind energy. With abundant onshore and offshore wind resources, and a growing fleet of turbines delivering low-carbon power, the nation now produces far more electricity than it currently consumes. But while the generation success is real, the economic benefits too often flow out of Scotland.If we are to secure a prosperous, net-zero future, the time has come to ask: how can Scotland retain more value from the electricity it generates?

The dust may finally be settling on the decade-long saga of Flamingo Land and Loch Lomond, but uncertainty remains over planning issues in Scotland’s first national park – prompting calls for a new law. The plans for a £43m tourism resort at Balloch were unanimously rejected by board members at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park after more than 100,000 people lodged objections.