The John Muir Trust (JMT), the UK’s leading wild land charity, has maintained its objection to the Viking wind development on Shetland’s mainland.
The JMT’s view is that the size and scale of the Viking development, which consists of 127 turbines reaching to 145m high, 104 km of tracks, and associated buildings and quarries, makes it unsuitable for one of the wildest areas in the UK.
John Hutchison, chairman of the John Muir Trust, said: “We have looked closely at the changes to the original application. If this had been submitted as a new application, rather than as a revision of a previous design, the size and scale of the development would still be considered inappropriate for such a remote and wild landscape.”
“Just this month Shetland was described by travel guide Lonely Planet as ‘the last untamed corner of the UK’. Despite the development being reduced in scale, the fact remains that the turbines would dwarf any building in the heart of Glasgow, let alone the landscape of Shetland.”
“92% of visitors state that they come to Scotland because of our scenery. With so many tourists valuing the natural environment, it is important that such developments do not negatively impact on the wild nature of our rural landscapes, but instead focus on supplying local energy needs”
The JMT supports sustainable economic development in wild land areas, but has concerns over carbon payback figures and the developer’s proposals to re-use 700,000 cubic metres of extracted peat elsewhere on the development site.
Stuart Brooks, Chief Executive, added: “Peat has an extremely fragile structure, and once peat has dried out significantly it is impossible to reverse this process. You cannot, as Viking Energy are proposing, shift peat from one location to another and expect it to behave in the same way.”
“The impacts of wind developments on deep peat are extremely difficult to predict so there is a need to stick to a precautionary principle and avoid siting major developments of this scale on fragile and important peatlands. Restoring peatlands to help sequester carbon should be our priority; this is one of the most cost-effective means of reducing our carbon emissions”