'Natural justice for Highlands' is call over renewables boost
The Highlands should benefit from renewables in the same way Shetland and Norway have benefited from oil and gas through a renewable fund that can be invested locally according to two of the highest ranking councillors.
Administration leader Margaret Davidson and Labour group boss Jimmy Gray tabled a motion to the meeting of the full council calling “for a fairer share of the income derived for the development of the Highlands' natural resources.”
That means finding ways for the vast profits from the renewable energy industry instead of enriching companies but flowing into communities in a definitive and structured way rather than the optional donations as happens now.
Citing shocking fuel poverty numbers and prices for energy being higher than elsewhere, Cllr Gray argued that unless action is taken then Highlanders will simply not benefit from the region’s own natural resources.
The way has already been paved, he said, by Shetland Islands Council which recently cut a deal with SSE worth £2.2 million so the community there can get the benefits of a wind farm.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to onshore and offshore renewables the Highland area has almost uniquely not seen anywhere near the benefits in financial or employment terms that will be reasonable to expect from such huge profitable developments in our area,” he said.
“Ten per cent of Europe's wave hours are here and up to 25 per cent of the tidal resource is here, Scotland is also home to 25 per cent of the whole of Europe's offshore wind resource.
“Scottish and Southern Electricity’s transmission and the most recent energy trend reports says that the north of Scotland holds the greatest renewable resource in Great Britain.
“We have also seen plans come forward for the development of some of the largest hydro pump storage facilities in the UK. Combined expenditure for these projects is multi-billion.
“Unless we make a fundamental change here in how these developments take place here the Highlands will miss out on what we should rightly expect from the development of these natural resources.
“We will be meeting zero carbon targets with near zero benefits to our region.”
He added: “These factors need to be seen in the context of local authorities with the highest rate of fuel poverty – the Western Isles has got 36 percent fuel poverty, Moray has got 33 percent fuel poverty and Highland, incredibly, has 32 percent of people in fuel poverty.”
Cllr Davidson said: “So here we are thinking about how we can retain that wealth, there's a lot of movement across Scotland around community wealth building and I suggest that as a council we take a very, very clear-eyed look at that and see what we can do and what example we can set the with our own processes, we're a big business.
“This is about retaining more of the money that's made from our natural resources here in Highland. I hope today is the first time we start talking about a Highland renewable fund, not just a Shetland oil fund, not a Norway oil fund – a Highland renewable fund because I am very very aware of the money that whizzes past my head every time yet another wind farm is built.”
