Some Good News

Quandary

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Scottish and Southern Energy (pseudonym for some french company?) has today announced that it is not to go ahead with its Kintyre Array. This follows a very well argued case submitted last month by RYA arguing against it on marine safety grounds. Though included among 7 so called 'offshore' schemes which are being fastracked ahead of the imminent Scottish election it came to within just 700 metres of Argylls best beach and almost filled the gap between it and the N Channel separation scheme. The bad news is that they say they are doing this to concentrate on their Islay array. The equally dreadful Tiree proposal is also continuing though opposition within and outside the island is growing. There are claims that the Crown Estate might lose its powers over Scottish waters after these elections and they are in a rush to grab as much income as they can before it happens.
A suspicious b***er like me might suspect that this is a bit of political manouevring, the Kintyre proposal was so bad that it might have made even our politicians sit down and think for a minute about what they were rushing into.
 

Ubergeekian

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There are claims that the Crown Estate might lose its powers over Scottish waters after these elections and they are in a rush to grab as much income as they can before it happens.

I thought that the Port Bannatyne Moorings Association v. Crown Estates Commissioners case revealed that the sea bed had been transferred to Holyrood by the Scotland Act, and that the CEC now simply claims to be acting on behalf of the Scottish Parliament. Or have I misread things?
 

Quandary

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Who gets the money?

According to the 'For Argyll' news website which has been campaigning on this issue all the income from the sale of the current licenses go straight to the coffers of the enormously wealthy 'Crown Estate' It was to counter the growing concern about this that they recently began putting a bit of money back in to coastal projects such as the pontoon facilities in East Loch Tarbert and Tobermory. However I suspect that Scotland is still a net loser and it is concerning that such things are still managed by a few grandees in a feudal system.
I suspect that directing this income to them is a reason why 'offshore' wind farms are sited generally right on the shore as at Tiree and Westport Beach.
BBC 17/2/2011 The Scottish Affairs Select Committee (at Westminster) is to investigate concerns about the role of the Crown Estate in Scotland.
The Crown Estate sells licences and pockets the money, the windfarm is built on the beach paid for by you and me as taxpayers, neat?
 
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Seajet

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Interesting that the wind farm was proposed so close to a popular beach.

One of the factors for the controversial South Coast wind farm being 8 miles offshore is so as not to destroy the aspect from the extremely popular - and no doubt lucrative as tourist bait - Sandbanks Beach to East of Poole.

Maybe the difference is, that draws hundreds of thousands a year, and it's probably not an exagerration to say the local economy for quite some distance in all directions apart from offshore would suffer very badly indeed if Sandbanks was to go downhill...
 

Quandary

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Who said anything about popular? It may be the best beach in Argyll - it might even be a good beach - but Machrihanish is not quite St Tropez.

It is popular with me, miles of clean sand backed by dunes and machair, and with all the surfers that make their way down there, though I admit it is seldom crowded. They would love to have an expanse of sand like this at St. T.
Perhaps that is why I am pleased that it is not going to be changed. I am also pleased that every time I leave Gigha to round the Mull or head for N. Ireland, I am not going to be faced with this massive obstruction.
 
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