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Community energy companies demand Pairc buyout approval     2/11/10

 

 

 

 

EcoHeb, the association of community-owned energy companies in the Western Isles, have called upon the Scottish Government to approve the community buyout of Pairc estate without any further delay.  

 

The EcoHeb network, which includes 11 community-owned wind farm and hydro companies, have come out in strong support of the Pairc Trust.

 

A spokesman for the  network stated: “A decision from the Scottish Government on the Pairc application is long overdue.

 

“The deadline for final submissions from the landlord ended last month, and so now is the time for Ministers to announce a decision in favour of the buy-out.

 

“If Ministers choose yet again to delay and to prevaricate, they will be in effect supporting the incumbent landowner and thwarting the democratic will of the local community.”

 

He added: “Despite the fantastic efforts of the community, this buyout saga has dragged on for seven years.  

 

“The landowner is trying to drag it out still further to the judicial review next February in the hope that a planning decision in the meantime in favour of a major wind farm will price the land out of the community’s reach.  

 

“His tactics are obvious and his motives blatant.  If he continues to get away with it, it will be due to a lack of Ministerial courage in the face of one man’s selfish obstruction.  

“This is a test case and the time for decision is now.”

 

EcoHeb says it wants isles’ MP and MSP to bear “political pressure upon the Scottish Government to make a decision now and before it is too late.  

 

“Ministers and politicians cannot mouth a commitment to land reform and to community benefit from renewables on the one hand, and continue to refuse a decision on the Pairc buyout on the other.”

 

The body points out: “October 29th was the dead-line date for Ministers to make a decision in principle on the merits of the buyout.  

 

“Every day they delay after that is a victory for obstructive landlords and a defeat for community rights.”