Windfarm appeal not accepted by Scottish Government

February 9, 2022 at 2:47 pm

Hoolan Energy appealed a planning application for the Hesta Head windfarm to the Scottish Government, citing a lack of decision by OIC’s planning committee. Now, the government has concluded that it has no remit to consider this matter at this time.

An application for appeal by the company behind the planned Hesta Head windfarm has been turned away by the Scottish Government.

As reported in this week’s The Orcadian, Hoolan Energy said it was left with “no option but to pursue an appeal” due to “uncertainty” over whether Orkney Islands Council (OIC) would consider an application.

In October, Hoolan submitted an application with the the council to vary conditions on the permissions for the Costa Head and Hesta Head windfarms. It asked to have an extra five years for the windfarm’s lifespan, plus a further five years to start construction (as of April 2019).

As the planning permission sits currently, it is due to expire this April.

The council’s planning committee rejected the application to extend the time conditions on Costa Head, and Hoolan subsequently appealed this decision to the Scottish Government.

However, before the Hesta Head application went to the council’s committee, the company also appealed it citing the authority’s failure to reach a decision.

In a document published yesterday, the government say that it has no remit to consider this as it was submitted too early. Hoolan said it would be lodging a second appeal in due course.

Explaining the position, the decision notice says “The appeal has now been checked in line with The Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, and I must inform you that it has been submitted too early.

“In order to be accepted, this appeal should have been lodged within 7 months, but no less than 4 months, for major applications i.e. 4 months for the Planning Authority to determine the application, and a further 3 months for the period to lodge the appeal. In other words, your appeal should have been submitted after 6 February 2022.

“We, therefore, have no scope to accept or consider your appeal.”

Responding to the decision, a spokeswoman from Hoolan Energy said: “DPEA states the timescale to submit an Appeal for S42 is four months after validation of the original application (which was 6 October for Hesta Head) rather than two months. The four month period would have been on 7 Feb instead of 2 Feb. The appeal will be re-submitted in order to be validated.”

For more information on where the application for the windfarms sit at the moment, see this week’s edition of The Orcadian.