June 2010 - Save Your Regional Park

Glenlora, Lochwinnoch - Anaerobic Digester
Application Finally Refused by Renfrewshire Council
There has been an on going saga with this application since our report in March
2010 and readers will remember that the developer had given 3 different
variations of the feedstock to be digested to create methane from which
electricity would be generated. We wondered whether there would be a 4th
alteration.
CAMPAIGN
NEWSLETTER N0 22
June 2010
www.saveyourregionalpark.com
Windfarm & Other Industrial
Development Roundup in
Clyde Muirshiel Regional
Park
Ardrossan, 15 turbines, 2 of which
are in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. In
May, the Developer and owner,
Scottish & Southern Energy
announced that it had sold the
windfarm to Infinis, a subsidiary of the
the Private Equity company Terra
Firma. The company was sold for
£28.1m and in addition the new
owners took over the project debt of
£25.7m making a total of £53.8m.
Watch this space!
Leapmoor, Inverkip & Wemyss Bay
– The application for 10 turbines By
Community Windpower lodged with
Inveclyde Council in July 2006 has
been withdrawn. It is hoped that this is
not a temporary withdrawal.
Kelburn, Fairlie - Final approval for
14 x 100m turbines was given by
Scottish Ministers. The construction
plan schedule of work is agreed and
financial bond is in place. Construction
work is scheduled to commence on 4 th
June 2010.
Wings Law, Kilbirnie – Application
for 24 x 410ft/125m turbines by Wind
Hydrogen Energy Ltd, refused by North
Ayrshire Council. WHEL appealed and
the second pre-PLI meeting will take
place at 2.00 PM on 28 th June in Radio
City, Kilbirnie. Anyone interested
should come along.
(Continued on next page)
Wardlaw The 27 th April Wood, was the date Dalry set – for 6 the x application to be placed on the agenda of
410ft/125m the Planning Turbines and Economic constructed Development in Policy Board by the Planning Dept and
2006 as there by Community were no further Windpower documents Ltd. on the Renfrewshire Council website, a visit
was made to the Paisley offices to view the file. It was found that the file had
even less documents than the website and on enquiring were told that the file
had been removed by the Police who were investigating a possible fraud. We
were allowed to see a number of new documents which were on the Council’s
own computer system though not on their website and, surprise surprise, possible
new foodstock had been advised! To quote ” …There is also one other facility in
the area which will be targeting a similar waste stream as the proposed plant.
This facility at Barkip was recently granted planning approval to treat 75,000
tonnes per year of waste foods, fats, greases and organic effluent sludge and
farm waste…“ If the Glenlora scheme is targeting the similar waste stream the
new chart is as follows
Feedstock
September
2009 (tonnes
per year)
Original
application
October 2009
(tonnes per
year)
Press release in
‘Chatterbox’
December 2009
(tonnes per year)
Amended
application
February 2010
(tonnes per
year)
Cow Slurry 11,500 4,000 3,000 ?
Potato Tops 3,000 - - ?
Grass Silage 4,000 - 4,740 ?
Barley - 3,200 740 ?
TOTAL 18,500 7,200 8,480 ?
Waste foods ?
Fats ?
Greases ?
Organic
?
effluent sludge
Farm waste ?
Further information suggested that a local heating system could be established as
part of a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) system ”The preferred option is the
integration of a CHP scheme into a new development as it is being built. As such,
the following types of end use are deemed to be the best potential outputs;:
commercial properties & offices, hotels & communal residences and new housing
developments“. This raises many questions regarding the developer’s long term
plans for development in this part of Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park.
It was also learnt that the recommendation of the Planning Dept was that the
development should be approved by the Planning and Economic Development
Policy Board on 27/4/10. However the Board insisted that no decision should be
made until representatives of the committee undertook a site visit and more
information was provided on the sources of feedstock and the distances it would
be transported.
At the meeting of the Planning and Economic Development Policy Board on 18 th
May, the application was refused on the basis ” the proposal would be detrimental
to the visual amenity of the rural landscape by reason of its size, design and
locationand no compelling justification for a facility at this location has been
demonstrated which would outweigh this adverse effect“. It is also anticipated
that the legal action taken by certain individuals may well have assisted the
meeting’s decision to refuse this application.
Thank you to all our members who attended both these Planning meetings and
congratulations to the Renfrewshire Councillors for a good and wise decision.

Wings Law (continued)
There is no further news on the
approved planning application for their
Hydrogen plant at Glengarnock
Millour Hill, Dalry, 6 x 125m/410ft
turbines – Community Windpower.
Following North Ayrshire Council’s
approval of the second application, the
Public Local Inquiry has been cancelled.
Wardlaw Wood, Dalry – 6 x
410ft/125m Turbines constructed in 2006
by Community Windpower Ltd.
Kaim Hill, Fairlie, application to NAC
by Fred Olsen Renewables for 5 x 125m
turbines in August 2008 – Refused by
North Ayrshire Council 15/12/09.
Developers announced on 16 th March
that they had decided not to appeal to
the Scottish Government against this
decision. This is great news.
.
Waterhead Moor, Largs, Scottish &
Southern Energy / Airtricity. No further
news on the application to the Scottish
Government for 29 turbines other than
that the Environmental statement is still
not completed after over 4 years of
waiting!
Glenlora, Lochwinnoch – Scoping for 1
x 85m turbine; the scoping response can
be read on
http://planning.renfrewshire.gov.uk/acoln
etDCpages/acolnetcgi.gov?ACTION=UN
WRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeOfficerRepo
rt&TheSystemkey=24191
An Objection has been lodged on behalf
of Glasgow Airport because of the
detrimental effect on the primary radar
system’s ability to see aircraft – a major
safety issue
Kenneth Gibson MSP’s
Protecting Scotland’s Regional Parks Bill
The SNP Parliamentary Group unanimously agreed to support
progression of this Bill and it has also been supported by the SC&UP
MSPs, John Scott (MSP for Ayr who was given a conducted tour of
Clyde Muirshiel by SYRP) and David McLetchie MSP for Pentland,
including another of the Regional Parks) . This means that the Bill
can go forward for its first stage debate.
Keep your eye on the website link where the Bill will be published
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/privateBills.htm
after the policy, procedures including the Bill’s explanatory notes,
policy memorandum, production of a memorandum to the
Subordinate Legislation Committee and note on competence issues
as well as a detailed letter to accompany the Bill for introduction
have been completed.
It had been hoped that this would be before the summer recess but
this is looking increasingly unlikely. It is SYRP’s intention to organise
a bus load of supporters to attend the first stage debate when it
takes place.
Kenneth Gibson MSP will give a progress report at the SYRP AGM on
28 th June – See AGM below. All interested people are invited.
Save Your Regional Park 4 th Annual General
Meeting, 7.30 PM on Monday 28 th June 2010 to
be held in the Parish Church Hall, Church St,
Lochwinnoch.
Speakers-
Councillor David Arthur, Chairman of the Clyde Muirshiel
Regional Park Authority on
Glenlora, Lochwinnoch – Planning
application for an anaerobic digester –
See main story on page 1 – more good
news
Skelmorlie Windfarm - Proposal
for 21 turbines seems to have reduced to
16 x 3.5MW turbines , but no further
news
“Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park Authority – The Park Strategy
2011-2016 Consultation” and
Kenneth Gibson MSP who will give an update on progress
with his Protecting Scotland’s Regional Parks Bill
ALL MEMBERS, FRIENDS AND INTERESTED PEOPLE WELCOME
New e.Petition - Siting of windfarms too close to residential properties
Raised by: Jack Farnham on 16 April 2010 & now closed for signatures.
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to guarantee a minimum separation distance of two
kilometres between a wind turbine development and any residential property or building, regardless of whether they are single
dwellings or part of a settlement, to minimise potential health, safety and environmental risks.
This is not a SYRP petition but one we wholeheartedly support as several of the windfarm applications in CMRP have proposed
turbines closer than 2 Klms from houses and there is now medical evidence that 2 KLMs should be the minimum.