OFFSHORE WIND, ONSHORE!  THE LEWIS WIND PROJECT - THE LOCAL VIEWPOINT

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RENEWABLE ENERGY

UK GOVERNMENT POLICY & INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITIES

30 APRIL 2002

Presentation by Alexander A Macdonald, Convener,
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

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Tapadh leibh fhear na cathrach.  Madainn mhath, a mhnathan agus a dhaoin’ uasail, tha e a’ toirt mòr thoileachas dhomhsa a bhith ann an seo an-diugh.  Tha mi taingeil an cothrom fhaighinn gu beachd ionadail a thoirt air tagradh gus an tuath gaoithe as motha anns an t-saoghal a thogail ann an eilean m’àrach.

Thank you chair.  Good morning ladies and gentlemen it is a pleasure to be here.   I am grateful for the chance to provide a local viewpoint on the proposed large scale wind farm on my native island of Lewis and to discuss the economic and community impacts related to the proposed development.  I will cover three areas in my presentation.

First, some context on the communities of the Western Isles.

Second, the potential that renewable energy, and especially this wind farm, offers our communities.  This is where I will focus on the economic and community impacts.

And third, the challenges that the project present, particularly in resolving policy tensions at many levels.

The word community is used in many senses.  Most obviously, we think of people.  However, I want to talk about our communities of people, flora, fauna, and habitats.

These pictures show the crofting landscape in the Western Isles.  It looks pleasant, and mostly is pleasant, but looks can disguise some harsh realities.

This slide shows the key statistics and trends affecting the people of our islands.  Make no mistake, these are serious matters.  The declining population and steady out migration of our young people threatens the viability of island life, now more than ever.  In recent years, there can be no question that we have experienced a significant downturn and economic decline.  The downturn is despite the significant investment made by Europe, enterprise agencies and other public bodies in wide range of projects: from fish farming to the University of the Highlands and Islands.

This slide shows the projected population decline in the Western Isles to the year 2016.  It is the most telling graphic of my presentation and is set against a trend of population growth in the highlands and islands as a whole.  It raises the critical issue of the continued viability of our human communities.

However, we remain a unique and diverse community with a strong cultural identity.  You will have noted that I opened my remarks in Gaelic.  I did so to highlight that Gaelic is the language of our communities.  The importance of Gaelic heritage to our islands is increasingly recognised, especially for tourism.

Tourism contributes some £32 million to our economy.  However, we will always be at a competitive disadvantage to mainland Scotland because of the significant cost of transportation to our islands.  We must therefore seek ways of regenerating our human communities to offset such disadvantages while retaining our strengths such as our culture and bio-diversity.  We recognise that human activity and bio-diversity are closely related and I would demonstrate this by highlighting one particular human activity - crofting.

For those unfamiliar with it, crofting could be described as tenanted agricultural smallholdings.  Unsurprisingly, it grew out of subsistence agriculture, and more particularly, discontent with landownership in the highlands and islands.  One of the main characteristics is that crofters in the Western Isles usually have several jobs - in the jargon - "economic pluralism".  Part-time work is key to our crofting traditions.

Crofting is the subject of distinct legislation in Scotland and its importance in our heritage and traditions cannot be over stated.  It is also vital to the management of land on our islands.

There is a popular misconception that the highlands and particularly the islands are "natural" habitats.  Some even describes such areas as wilderness.  The reality is that every part of our islands is subject to some form of land management, even if it is only grazing or muirburn.  The crofting traditions actually help to maintain certain habitats.  This interdependence becomes very clear by considering our communities of flora, fauna and habitats.

As many of you may know, the Western Isles are renowned for its flora and fauna. This slide shows some examples of our rare and endangered species and habitats.   The importance of such species and habitats is widely recognised in the range of designations that now apply throughout our islands.

This slide lists the habitats and species of special interest in the western isles.  In many cases the land management, through crofting, is critical to the habitats for species to flourish.  For example, crofting practices play a significant role in maintaining populations of the corncrake.  The unique machair and dune systems of uist are also maintained by crofting traditions.

In my view human and natural communities are interdependent.

Because of the long tradition of sensitive land management many of our habitats and species are now of significance at a national and European level.

The areas in red on this map show such designations.

Around one third of the land in the islands is designated for nature conservation. Many of the designations in the Western Isles qualify under the European Natura 2000 network. 

The area earmarked for the proposed wind farm falls partly on such designations, mostly recognised for blanket bog and breeding bird populations.

However, the proposed site is not part of the biologically diverse croft land.  What we are actually talking about is part of an enormous, relatively uniform bog.

We are greatly heartened by the careful approach being taken by British Energy and AMEC in developing their proposals with respect to habitats.  The studies that have been commissioned will give us a very clear picture of the nature, condition and relative importance of the habitat, and its flora and fauna.  This will enable an assessment of the significance of any impacts that the proposal may have on habitats and species of importance.

This takes me to the main point I want to make in my first section about our communities.

All of these different communities in the Western Isles combine to create a unique set of circumstances - there is a delicate balance to be struck between the activities of people, flora, fauna and habitats.  Disturb that balance, and inevitably you endanger some, or all, of the communities to a degree.

I will return to this theme when I have outlined my second main area for to-day - the likely economic benefits and community effects of the proposed Lewis wind farm project.

The location of the Western Isles, and more particularly its weather, offer immense potential for renewable energy.   It is arguably the best place in the Northern Hemisphere to harvest natural energy resources. Recently commissioned studies both at the Scottish and the Western Isles level confirm this. I am obviously not the first to say this as the quotations on this slide illustrate.

The proposed wind farm on Lewis is a major investment, seeking to take advantage of those conditions.  For a multitude of reasons it would be difficult to find a site for such a development elsewhere in the UK.  We have an expanse of flat and unpopulated land with excellent wind conditions.  I doubt it would be possible to find a more suitable single location in the UK and obviously two major players: British Energy and AMEC, agree with me.  It is also probable that in other areas of the UK a hostile public reaction would hinder anything on the scale required to make significant progress towards Government targets as this project aims to do.

At this stage, as a Local Authority, we welcome the opportunity to be involved.   There are many factors to be taken into account, and processes to be completed before the project could proceed.   However, the importance of the associated sub sea cable is of major significance, as outlined by the previous speaker, David Still.

Cable connections would unlock the potential for future developments in all forms of renewable energy.  They would create an opportunity to tap into the massive wave energy to the west.  A cable would truly be a lifeline for the Western Isles and indeed for the future of renewable energy technologies in the UK.

We have already set out our aspirations to be a centre of renewable energy.   This project makes it possible to achieve the vision we outlined out last year to make our islands an Energy Innovation Zone.  I am happy to say we are publishing the development of that vision here for you to day.

This slide summarises some of the key economic benefits that I see from the proposed Lewis wind farm.  Not only would there be considerable economic benefits and multiplier effects for the islands, there would undoubtedly be spin offs that would benefit a much wider community beyond our shores.  No other development that I can think of would generate 300 direct jobs in our relatively small island economy.  300 jobs in the Western Isles are equivalent to around 65,000 new jobs in the Scottish economy.  This statistic alone demonstrates the significance of this project for the Western Isles.

And anyone who says that the worlds biggest wind farm will not be a massive attraction to tourism is perhaps misguided.  I have even heard people in other rural areas of Scotland describe smaller windfarms as "dancing angels".

I also believe such a development would allow us to maintain and indeed enhance our unique communities with their Gaelic culture and crofting traditions.  Additional well paid jobs will give the opportunity for an increase in part-time crofting activity.  Crofting is an activity that many full-time, office based workers, take a keen interest in.  This would then have a positive knock on effect on the maintenance of our environment.

This slide shows some of the local community effects generated so far and those that we anticipate.  The reaction to date has been one of support, creating an air of optimism within our community.

The fact that part of the land is already in community ownership enables instant "planning gain" and offers the potential for a significant annual income stream to the community.  Crofting tenure itself will also ensure that revenue will, in part, go directly to the communities.

I believe that such benefits can be reinforced by other actions as set out in our joint vision with Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Western Isles Enterprise 'Creating Communities of the future'.  In fact, we gave this document to Scotland’s First Minister, Jack McConnell MSP, just last week.  I am pleased to say he fully endorsed our approach.

Copies of that document are also available here to day.  We will now be taking this forward with relevant government departments and a range of other agencies.

As one of the six key economic drivers identified in the ‘Creating Communities of the Future’ document, renewable energy is critical to a wider package to regenerate our islands, based upon broadband technology, Gaelic heritage, enhanced business support, the University of the Highlands and Islands, and the dispersal of Government jobs.

The main point I wish to drive home is that renewable energy offers economic regeneration.  Without it, there is a real danger that our decline will continue, bringing serious damage to our human communities, and therefore to all of our other communities.  And with economic regeneration, comes the opportunity to develop our crofting traditions of part-time working and economic pluralism.  This will help to safeguard habitats.

This takes me to the final part of my presentation - the policy tensions that such economic and community impacts present.

I have already demonstrated that all of our communities in the Western Isles live in a delicate balance.   That balance is under threat even as we speak.  Our human communities, and particularly our crofting communities, are facing serious problems.

In particular, EC regulations for agriculture are threatening the very basis of the crofting tradition. And, if crofters turn away from their traditions then the habitats of the Western Isles will begin to change, perhaps forever.

Of course habitats throughout the world are becoming endangered by climate change.  That threat creates an imperative to switch to renewable sources of energy.

Some of the most important tensions are at a European level.  We see European regulation intended to create a modern, efficient primary sector throughout Europe that threatens the traditional ways of our human communities, and our habitats.

And then we also see European regulation intended to preserve these habitats that may present major obstacles to economic development through renewable energy - economic development that could safeguard the human communities that manage the habitats themselves.

The Lewis wind farm proposal offers an immense opportunity to safeguard our human communities who in turn nurture our outstanding environment.  And through combating climate change, the project also helps to safeguard already endangered habitats and species.

Equally, creating such a wind farm, and other proposals that will follow, obviously present a more immediate, localised danger to habitat.

We, as the human communities of the Western Isles, welcome the potential for economic growth presented by this project and renewable in general.  We welcome the opportunity to preserve and safeguard our traditions, cultures and communities.

We are on the edge of Europe.  We want to contribute to the Scottish, British and European economies - not depend upon them.  We can do that based on the sustainable development of our natural energy supplies.

So let me sum up before I conclude.

I have covered three key areas.  First I explained the different communities in our islands - people, flora, fauna and habitats - and I suggested that they are interdependent.  Threaten one, and you threaten the delicate balance.

Second, I set out the economic benefits and community effects I believe would flow from the proposed wind farm - especially the potential it offers to regenerate our human communities and maintain our culture and traditions vital to the habitats of our islands.

Third, I have outlined some of the key policy tensions that need to be resolved if we are to gain the full benefits for our communities, especially in relation to the interpretation of European directives.

To conclude I would summarise as follows.

In short, we stand for sustainable development.  We welcome the careful approach being taken by British Energy and AMEC.  And, we welcome the support and co-operation of our local Community Planning partners, in particular from Scottish Natural Heritage.   We now look to Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels, to allow us to achieve the potential that renewable offer for our communities – and thus to promote cultural diversity as well as bio-diversity.

Thank you for listening.

Bu mhath leam taing a thoirt dhuibh airson an cothrom a thug sibh dhomh bruidhinn aig a’ cho-labhairt seo air cuspair a dh’fhaodadh a bith cudthromach do na h-eileanan an iar.  Moran taing dhuibh uile airson eisdeachd ri na bh’agam ri radh.