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Gavin Morgan
30 September, 2006
THE ROYAL Society for the Protection of Birds is unlikely to raise
objections to
a massive wind farm development in Shetland.
Council led Viking Energy, and Scottish and Southern Energy plan to
build a
600MW windfarm at the Lang Kames, a habitat for red throated divers and
merlins.
A proposed underwater cable will feed electricity into the national
grid. The
wind farm will not be operational before 2012 at the earliest.
Shetland's RSPB officer Pete Ellis said yesterday (Friday): "We would
not object
on principle, although we may have to put in a conditional objection to
keep
everything legal."
The vote of good faith by the RSPB is a major relief for the viability
of the
venture and appears to have solidified relations between Viking and
environmental groups, a factor that is of major importance to the
developers.
Viking Energy project officer Aaron Priest said: "It is good to clarify
the
situation. We are happy that we have a good relationship with the RSPB
and the
Scottish National Heritage."
A bird study of the area is currently being carried out, but the RSPB
believes
that by keeping the wind turbines away from the nesting grounds of red
throated
divers it would not affect the bird's natural environment.
Mr Ellis said: "There is no reason to object to the location, but it
will depend
on the results of the environmental statement."
There have been voices of concern raised about the location of the wind
farm by
other environmental groups.
Proact, a national wildlife lobby group, is putting together a petition
for the
RSPB to put pressure on similar sites throughout the UK, such as the
700MW wind
farm proposal for the island of Lewis.
Last month, Viking Energy launched a consultation website at
www.vikingenergy.co.uk At present, there is little public
discussion
on the pros and cons of the project, which could cost as much as £1
billion.
Mr Priest said: "The feedback is mainly people asking questions, looking
for
more information and some answers. The response has neither been
positive or
negative. Only a couple of people have said anything against it."
Viking is expected to lodge a planning application with the Scottish
Parliament
before the end of the year, as it will be MSPs who will make the final
decision
rather than the council's own planning board.
The planning process is anticipated to take as long as three years.
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