Comments on planning close at 5pm tomorrow… View this email in your browser Happy New Year, one and all! Just before Christmas, we asked for your support for out turbine project which in the planning process in Inverness Council. Time’s nearly up, so we just wanted to remind you: if you’d like to make a submission, you have until 5pm tomorrow to do so. All you need to go ahead is in the information below – so if you have time, please do help out! If this project goes ahead, it will not only bring in cash for resilience building projects in Portobello – it will also create a unique relationship with other communities near the site, which we feel could become a real source of support and inspiration for all of us. It will take just five minutes to submit a message backing our project which will help inform the Highland Council’s decision when they consider our application.   Here are instructions on how to make a representation in SUPPORT: Highland Council planning application ref.  14/04452/FU TOMFAT WIND TURBINES You can visit http://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=neighbourComments&keyVal=NFQQ9BIH7R000 and select the button “Make a Public Comment” It is also essential that you provide your name and address (although your address will be redacted before it appears on the planning portal).    What can I say Representations from the public will be taken into account by the planning authority when making its decision, but only if the comments relate to this specific proposal and are valid planning reasons.   To assist, we have extracted some key points from our submission, for you to use – please feel free to use as few or as many as you wish – and please also feel free to add your own points.   Or, if you’d prefer to make a representation in writing, please find instructions below   Dear Sir or Madam, I would like to register my support for the planning application for Tomfat wind turbines and have had the opportunity to look over the planning application drawings and associated materials for the project. I support the objectives of the project, namely: 1.     Generating independent income to spend on local sustainable regeneration priorities, distributed to not-for-private-profit community groups, estimated at £5 – 7 million in total over the project lifetime (assuming the project is largely funded by debt) 2.     Reduce CO2 equivalent emissions of approximately 2,000 tonnes per annum, depending on actual wind resource, or c.36,000 tonnes over the 20-year lifetime of the installation. Carbon payback is anticipated to be achieved within two years of operation 3.     Raise awareness of the potential for generating clean energy using renewable resources, and inspire other communities to undertake similar projects. I understand that: ·      P&L Turbines is 95% owned by Scottish community organisations. Therefore the project stands to be of great benefit to Scottish communities. Primary beneficiaries of the project will be the communities of Portobello and Leith alongside the local communities of Strathnairn and Dores & Essich. The project is not targeted at specific beneficiaries but rather outcomes for the whole of these communities. ·      P&L Turbines partners are interested in formalising links between communities for investment, information sharing and educational purposes.  Invitations to formalise these links, in particular through local investment in the project to enable community groups close to the site to share in the returns, were made at meetings within the Strathnairn and Dores & Essich communities at the pre-application stage. I understand this offer will be extended should planning permission be approved.  ·      If local communities choose not to be investment partners in the project, they will still receive income through community benefit payments in line with the values set out in Highland Council policy. ·      The Scottish Government has set a target for 500 MW of community and locally owned renewable energy by 2020. The community energy component of the progress towards this target currently stands at only 14%, with 86% comprised of private local owners and housing associations among others. The Tomfat wind turbines project will make a meaningful contribution to the community energy component of that target. ·      Communities have rarely been the beneficiaries of the ongoing wind energy boom instead a handful of multinational energy companies and investment funds have captured the profits.  Only 0.5% of Scottish renewable energy is owned by Scottish not-for-private groups.  Tomfat Wind Turbines has been conceived and developed as a genuine community renewable energy project. The lead project partners, PEDAL Portobello and Greener Leith have tried on two separate occasions to develop a wind energy project in Edinburgh but have been thwarted due to the dense/complex land use and corporate stonewalling. The Tomfat project recognises the challenges that community groups face finding availabile land and offers a partnership solution that allows interested and willing not-for-profit groups to benefit from Scotland’s outstanding natural resources. ·      The innovative approach of the Tomfat wind turbines project can be an inspiration to other community groups across Scotland. ·      Wind farms in Scotland are an essential part of our efforts to combat man-made climate change by offsetting carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be produced by fossil fuel power generation.  Scotland has over 25% of the European wind resource and the potential to be a world leader in this technology.  Wind farms need to be in the right locations where they can take advantage of the wind resource, and I think wind turbines at Tomfat is a good location.   ·      Wind power must and will play a vital part in creating a more diverse and secure energy mix alongside other renewables such as wave, tidal, solar and energy efficiency. ·      The Tomfat wind turbines would not affect my enjoyment of the area and would deliver a range of community benefits, and sustainable employment opportunities locally throughout the site’s preparation, construction and maintenance thereafter. ·      The visual impact must be put in context with the widespread environmental damage which climate change could cause in the area, and I accept the wind turbines as a necessary feature on this skyline. I personally think that the Tomfat turbines will: ·      Have low or acceptable visual impact, in particular from key locations such as local properties and key tourist routes; ·      Be an appropriate scale of proposal and size of turbines for the location;   ·      Provide improved access and interpretation facilities at Tomfat woods; ·      Have acceptable noise impacts; ·      Have no shadow flicker; ·      Protect the amenity of local residents through its careful design and location; ·      Thorough assessment of impact on ecology and ornithology and findings of acceptable ecological impact; ·      Be readily accessible from existing roads and will have a local connection to the electricity grid network, therefore making good use of existing infrastructure.    Representations can also submitted in writing to: TOMFAT WIND TURBINES Highland Council planning application ref. 14/04452/FUL Head of Planning & Building Standards Planning & Development Service The Highland Council Glenurquhart Road Inverness IV3 5NX Please clearly mark the Planning Application reference, and that the representation is in SUPPORT.    Copyright © 2015 Portobello Energy Descent and Land Reform Group, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you are a member or associate member of PEDAL -> Portobello Transition Town or because you have asked to receive news from us Our mailing address is: Portobello Energy Descent and Land Reform Group 23a Bath Street Portobello Edinburgh, Scotland EH15 1HB United Kingdom