ISLANDERS have made a “last stand” against plans to build a controversial solar farm by staging a demonstration at the highest point in Cumbrae.
The protest yesterday saw around 250 islanders gather at the Glaid Stone, which is the proposed site for thousands of solar panels, holding aloft paper Dunlins – one of the endangered birds recorded on the site.
The application for planning permission for the solar farm, submitted by energy firm Comsol, was rejected by councillors in North Ayrshire, but the company has now launched an appeal with the Scottish Government.
Members of the public have until Tuesday, September 19, to submit their comments on the proposal, after which the Scottish Government reporter will visit the site and issue a decision.
The Isle of Cumbrae is one of six islands taking part in a Scottish Government initiative which aims to see them become carbon-neutral by 2040.
Keith Hammond, secretary of Cumbrae Community Council, said the islanders were not against renewable energy, but the site which had been selected was “inappropriate”.
“It is at the top of the island, it is the only place you can see 360 degrees around the island,” he said.
“We are a small island and at the top of the island, you have got two protected areas for different species of birds, plants, a whole number of things.
“This is the site on which they are going to build – something the size of 22 football fields of the panels.”
Hammond said solar installations elsewhere in North Ayrshire had been sited on reclaimed land or areas of “rubbish”.
He added: “They have certainly not been stuck on beauty spots or on significant areas that are important for families.
“People come here and kids get the chance to see birds. We think that if they build this, people won’t come here.
“Why do people come to a little island like this? It is because it is unspoilt. We’ve not got Disneyland here, we’ve only got one fish and chip shop.
“I cannot see people coming once this has been done.”
Hammond also said there had been no benefits offered to the island from the installation of the solar farm – suggesting the firm could have proposed free electricity for the local school, library or health centre.
He said the island’s population would feel like their views did not matter if it was given the go-ahead and the demonstration was a “last stand” against the solar farm plans, which have been subject to four applications since 2016.
However, he added: “We are talking about it now as we are the little island which has found its voice.
“So whatever happens now, we feel we have represented this island, we have not let something awful happen to the bird life, to the animal life, to the plant life, that we have just shrugged our shoulders and said ‘so what?’.
“We have done what we could.”
A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “At its meeting of May 24, 2023, the planning committee refused an application for a solar farm and battery energy storage system at Wee Minnemoer, Cumbrae.
“In making its decision, the planning committee acknowledged that there was a pressing need to address the climate crisis, however, on the balance of harm versus benefit, this was not the right site for this development.
“The committee agreed unanimously that the application be refused specifically on the grounds of habitat concerns, effects on the tourism economy and the overall visual impact on the landscape.
“The applicant has now appealed this decision and the matter is now in the hands of the Scottish Government Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA).”
A spokesman for Comsol said: “The proposed site for the solar farm is on poor grazing land for cattle and will have little impact on the island’s biodiversity.
“It will also allow the farmer to diversify his business.
“Equally, there are significant benefits, such as community tariffs, that can be developed, not to mention the reduction in the island’s carbon output, as well as community grants and we would be happy to help secure these.
“There have been a lot of misleading reports locally about the negative impacts of the proposed solar farm which have not been helpful.
“However, we await the Scottish Government’s decision based upon the facts.”
