The N4 planning story

The Eilean mo Ghaoil group are reminding people this is “the final push” for objections to the onshore transmission works for N4 Spiorad na Mara, off the west coast of Lewis.

The deadline for objections is tomorrow (Wednesday, 12 August) and Eilean mo Ghaoil want to send a message that Lewis is “closed to exploitative business”.

In their Facebook appeal, they said: “Help us send a clear message to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and governments far beyond our shores that the Isle of Lewis is closed.

“Closed to exploitation.

“Closed to imperialists dictating what we do or don’t do, without our consent.

“Closed to those who see our land and seas as assets to be bought, extracted and profited from.

“Closed to developments that put profits before people and the environment, and outside interests before the long-term future of our island.

“The direction of the Isle of Lewis, our land, our seas, our culture and our traditions should be in the hands of the people who live here.

“Our future should not be determined by multinational companies and governments sitting in offices far away.”

To make objections easier, people can use the Object Now objection tool, available online.

This tool – https://object.now/spiorad-na-mara-transmission-works/ – relates to the public consultation for the onshore transmission works.

The public consultation for the offshore elements of the wind farm – including the turbines themselves – has already been done.

Eilean mo Ghaoil said the onshore elements will “introduce major energy infrastructure across environmentally sensitive landscapes, including peatland, crofting land and protected habitats.”

The graphics featured below are from the Eilean mo Ghaoil campaign.

They urged: “This is your opportunity to have your say. By submitting an objection, you can help ensure the planning authority fully considers the environmental, community and planning impacts of the proposal before any decision is made.”

If approved, N4 Spiorad na Mara, which is being developed by Canadian-based Northland and ESB, would have up to 60 wind turbines, each up to 338 metres above sea level. The site was identified as N4 in the ScotWind lease and the project named Spiorad na Mara by Northland.

The closest ones would be around 6km from land and would feature prominently in the views from multiple places of historic and cultural importance and natural beauty.

The planning application currently on the table is entirely separate to the application process for the offshore elements of the wind farm, which is still being decided, following public consultation.

The offshore elements will be decided by Scottish Government, who have confirmed they received “a significant number of representations” in relation to the application.

They would not give an exact figure while the validation process was ongoing.

However, they did reveal “the volume of representations received is higher than would ordinarily be expected for applications of this nature”.

This was disclosed to me exclusively, following a Freedom of Information request about the number of objections received.

Campaigners will be hoping for a similar show of strength of feeling in representations to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar about the onshore application.

The onshore elements comprise the landfall cabling, a potential landfall substation on land – there is another option for a substation offshore – plus cross-island cabling and a grid substation.

Campaigners said the cable route would “carve up the Barvas moor”, cut across multiple common grazings and legally-protected crofting land, and cause major traffic disruption. There is also the issue of carbon release from opening peatland.

These substations are also totally separate to SSEN’s proposed Lewis hub, to support the interconnector.

All eyes will be on the Comhairle as it takes a view on the onshore elements, following the shock in June when the local authority agreed to object to government about the offshore elements.

This surprised many in the community who believed the Comhairle has historically pushed for the N4 site to be developed for offshore renewables.

Critics point to the Comhairle’s submission to the Scottish Government’s Draft Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (2020) as part of the reason for this impression.

The Comhairle’s submission stated: “The local population is therefore prepared for, and supportive of, large scale deployment of Offshore Wind off Lewis and has not reacted negatively to the potential visual impact in the way other coastal regions in Scotland have.

“It is noted that DPO N4 is located relatively close to shore and may present a relatively higher visual impact than other DPO’s.

“Notwithstanding, the Comhairle urges Marine Scotland to retain and promote DPO N4 to connect to Grid infrastructure on Lewis…

“The local population has accepted the considerable visual impact of these Onshore deployment on the tacit understanding that the next generation of energy production will be in the marine environment.”

It also said: “The islands are currently suffering from chronic loss of working population, many of them to work in the energy industry in the North Sea and across the globe. A sizeable Offshore Wind industry, connected to and serviced from the islands, will bring many of these workers home and will transform the island Supply Chain.

“The Comhairle therefore strongly support DPO N4 because it will kick start the island supply chain and provide much needed jobs and benefits to the local population.”

The submission was in the name of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar as an organisation.

Meanwhile, the Comhairle’s chief planning officer, John Cunningham, has come under pressure for misrepresenting community views on the N4 site and having to apologise for doing so.

He sent an email apology to Urras Oighreachd Bharabhais (Barvas Estate Trust) for misrepresenting their position on N4 in a report to the Sustainable Development Committee. It was before Mr Cunningham was promoted to the post of chief planning officer.

The email was sent to David Macmillan, chair of the Barvas Estate Trust, on 1 July 2022, and entitled: “Community Position Statement on ScotWind N4”.

In the email, Mr Cunningham said: “I have to apologise to you for that Sustainable Development Committee gaffe which will have landed you in a good deal of hassle. I hadn’t realised that I had said that in the report regarding the MoU being ‘a signal of community support’ but I checked the text immediately after our meeting and there it was in black and white!

“So sorry for causing you and your Trustees all that trouble. I’ll need to sharpen up my act in the future.”

The fact someone from the Comhairle had apologised for misrepresenting community support was included by Barvas Estate Trust in their submission to Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate over the offshore aspects of N4 Spiorad na Mara.

The Barvas submission, including this revelation, was shared on social media in May this year.

They said: “Our local authority has since admitted and apologised that they had misrepresented these communities by stating to the Scottish Government that there was no objection from local communities to the proximity of N4 location and the communities were in favour.”

I followed up on this claim with a piece on Substack, which sparked discussion.

The Stornoway Gazette sought a response from the Comhairle, who issued a denial.

A spokesman said: “The Comhairle followed due process throughout the consultation process and has not issued any apologies in relation to any claims that it misrepresented communities to the Scottish Government.”

In an exchange just yesterday (Monday), the Comhairle spokesman acknowledged an apologetic email did exist and there had been “a recent discussion” with Barvas about the matter.

But he insisted the Comhairle’s denial, published in the Gazette on May 14, was “wholly accurate” as Barvas had claimed there was an apology about making misrepresentations to government – but Mr Cunningham had apologised about making misrepresentations in a council report.

“It was in relation to the wording of a statement within a sustainable development report… there was no intention behind it.”

However, some remain sceptical about this defence, particularly given the Comhairle’s submission to the Draft Sectoral Marine Plan.

One objector in Barvas, wishing to remain anonymous, dismissed the distinction as splitting hairs and said the Comhairle denial had been too literal, failing to address the general problem.

He said: “The Comhairle have been sailing too close to the wind on ScotWind and N4 for years.”

Eilean mo Ghaoil, who commissioned a community survey that found 88 per cent opposition to N4 Spiorad na Mara, took a similar view.

A spokesperson said: “We have consistently asserted that the community’s views have been misrepresented by the Comhairle and have published the Comhairle’s responses to the Scottish Government’s Draft Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy

“The communities of the west side of Lewis had no formal role in the ScotWind leasing process and were not consulted before the N4 area was identified and leased.

“Yet the Comhairle consistently maintained that the community was supportive of offshore wind development.

“The communities of the west side of lewis are entitled to a planning process that is transparent, independent and genuinely accountable to those whose landscape, livelihoods, and heritage are most directly affected.”

Given the history, the Comhairle’s vote on 25 June suprised many, where councillors agreed to officially object to the offshore elements of N4 Spiorad na Mara in the government consultation.

They were agreeing the recommendation in a planning report, brought in the name of chief executive Martin Joyce and presented to councillors by planning officer Morag Ferguson.

Her presentation during the full council meeting cited “significant effects” on multiple heritage assets and scenic areas, due to the visual impact of the turbines.

These included Arnol blackhouse, where the wind farm will be “in full view” as people approach or exit the blackhouse.

“The heritage impact assessment did not conclude significant effects for that heritage asset and we would disagree with that assessment,” she said.

She also spoke about the visual impact at Reef, a site within the National Scenic Area.

“It’s also a very popular beach for visitors – a lovely beach – and also very important to tourism and residents in the Uig area.”

From Gallan Head, the wind farm will be visible “in its entirety”.

And at Dalmore, the wind farm will fill the entire view from the beach, with the height of the turbines competing with the height of the cliffs on either side.

Following a brief discussion, councillors voted to approve the recommendation to raise strong concerns about the adequacy of the Environmental Impact Assessment report and to object to all three applications relating to the offshore part of N4 Spiorad na Mara.

The recommendation was also to consider that the significance of effect was “so great that the proposed development would fail to meet the requirement of The Electricity Act 1989”.

The recommendation identified “likely significant adverse effects on seascape, landscape and visual amenity and on the historic environment resources of the planning authority area”.

It concluded: “These significant adverse effects are such that they are considered to outweigh any positive contribution to renewable energy generation and climate change targets.”

After the presentation and vote, Comhairle convener Kenny Macleod thanked Morag Ferguson and the planning team for “the hard work” that had gone into the “very detailed report” and taken up “a lot of the department’s time over the past few months”.

That hard work is not over yet.