Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[Kavi Ugl]

That was a phone survey by a newspaper of 1000 people - not a referendum of 22,000 people(well let's say 10,000 eligable to vote).

[Graeme_Storey]

The worrying thing, that seems to have been fogotten by the SIC, is this:-

 

Now planning permission has been granted the shares will rocket in value and many of them may well be snapped up by some faceless company in the south.

 

The direction of Viking Energy is governed by the shareholders, and who knows who they will be in the medium to long term?

 

I have a gut feeling that we have signed away a lot with this decision - and the SIC/SCT may find that there is little they can ever do to stop Shetland being desecrated, by anyone with the cash to buy up the majority of the VE shares, at any time in the future?

 

Or, and I am very happy to be corrected here, am I worried for no good reason?

[unlinkedstudent]

Right, so is it now time to organise a mass demo outside the Scottish Parliament to let them know exactly what the MAJORITY of us think? I'm up for it AND, if need be, standing in front of a sodding bulldozer.

 

Have we got a breakdown yet of how the councillors voted?

[JMac]

[quote="Graeme_Storey

 

Part of Shetland's 'specialness' has died today.

 

Very sad.

 

Don't worry Graeme, Rick Nickerson, who proposed approval of the wind farm, said he was speaking for the unborn generations of Shetlanders. This did produce a gasp of astonishment from the audience, and someone remarked they hadn't voted for him yet.

 

But obviously his omniscience carried the day for $hetland.

[JustMe]

There must be ways to lobby the Scottish Government over this. If only on the grounds that the thing has been given planning consent by a minority of our councillors and that those councillors did not seem to have given sufficient weight to objectors views nor indeed to the planners recommendation.

 

Not that I am against the wind farm. I am not but I have worries about the issues the planners raised and I have a vision of us ending up with a soggy mess in the Central Mainland producing little electricity while new windfarms using smaller more efficient turbines have sprung up much closer to where the power is needed. I also worry about the same soggy mess being left behind by a bankrupt Viking Energy because the new tidal generators are producing cheaper and more reliable supplies and what current Viking Energy produces is not saleable.

[Skunnered]

The worrying thing, that seems to have been fogotten by the SIC, is this:-

 

Now planning permission has been granted the shares will rocket in value and many of them may well be snapped up by some faceless company in the south.

 

The direction of Viking Energy is governed by the shareholders, and who knows who they will be in the medium to long term?

 

I have a gut feeling that we have signed away a lot with this decision - and the SIC/SCT may find that there is little they can ever do to stop Shetland being desecrated, by anyone with the cash to buy up the majority of the VE shares, at any time in the future?

 

Or, and I am very happy to be corrected here, am I worried for no good reason?

Actually VE is a Private Company and their shares are not available on the market.

[JustMe]

Is it too soon to ask if conditions were attached to this planning permission or is this only a general outline permission. Thinking of things like restrictions on lorry movements on the main road, minimising disruption to local residents and protection of wildlife.

 

And just out of interest did the airlines using Tingwall and Scatsta airports make any "observations" about the hight and location of the turbines?.

[stilldellin]

Agree with JustMe the whole central mainland is a construction disaster area due to the peat. What we should have had as I have said before is twice the number of turbines but on solid rock. It's called the island of Unst.

[ArabiaTerra]

That was a phone survey by a newspaper of 1000 people - not a referendum of 22,000 people(well let's say 10,000 eligable to vote).

It was a properly weighted representative sample of the Shetland population. Not just a random 1000 names picked from the phone book.

 

Right, so is it now time to organise a mass demo outside the Scottish Parliament to let them know exactly what the MAJORITY of us think? I'm up for it AND, if need be, standing in front of a sodding bulldozer.

The majority support the windfarm, so you're participation in a demonstration of support for the windfarm will be appreciated.

 

Gary Robinson, Florence Grains and one other (whose name I didn't catch) voted against, Jonathon Wills abstained.

 

The worrying thing, that seems to have been fogotten by the SIC, is this:-

 

Now planning permission has been granted the shares will rocket in value and many of them may well be snapped up by some faceless company in the south.

 

The direction of Viking Energy is governed by the shareholders, and who knows who they will be in the medium to long term?

 

I have a gut feeling that we have signed away a lot with this decision - and the SIC/SCT may find that there is little they can ever do to stop Shetland being desecrated, by anyone with the cash to buy up the majority of the VE shares, at any time in the future?

 

Or, and I am very happy to be corrected here, am I worried for no good reason?

 

Planning permission has not been granted, yet. That is up to the minister in Holyrood. The Council have simply voted to endorse the VE application.

 

As far as shares go, VE partnership is not a publicly traded company, so no shares are on sale.

[ArabiaTerra]

Agree with JustMe the whole central mainland is a construction disaster area due to the peat. What we should have had as I have said before is twice the number of turbines but on solid rock. It's called the island of Unst.

Unst was out of the question as it is covered in archaeology, bird reserves and other protected areas.

 

The reason the central mainland site was chosen (by the council back in the mid 90's, IIRC) was precisely because it avoided any conservation areas.

[JAStewart]

That was a phone survey by a newspaper of 1000 people - not a referendum of 22,000 people(well let's say 10,000 eligable to vote).

 

17,000 eligible is closer.

 

You'll never get a full turnout, so maybe ~10,000 is accurate. Our last referendum had 8,000 people: http://shetlopedia.com/1997_Devolution_Referendum

 

My view wasn't represented in the 1,000 people who were phoned, but again from hearing people speaking about VE ie in real life and not Shetlink, it seems fairly representative, whereas Shetlink's membership are seemingly against it.

 

67% are not opposed to the windfarm.

I think that is hugely misleading. Remember there were 70% against it with regards to the energy consent unit.

 

There's two hugely varying statistics. I don't think that either side can claim a victory just now.

[ArabiaTerra]

67% are not opposed to the windfarm.

I think that is hugely misleading. Remember there were 70% against it with regards to the energy consent unit.

 

There's two hugely varying statistics. I don't think that either side can claim a victory just now.

One is a representative sample, the other is a self selected sample of those who were motivated enough to comment.

 

All the ECU statistic proves is that the anti's are more motivated to make their feelings known.

[Carlos]

Is it too soon to ask if conditions were attached to this planning permission or is this only a general outline permission. Thinking of things like restrictions on lorry movements on the main road, minimising disruption to local residents and protection of wildlife.

It is not a normal Planning Application:- this is not the SIC granting permission, this is the SIC recommending approval to the Energy Consents Unit in Edinburgh.

It is now for the ECU to decide yes/no and for them to place any conditions.

[Graeme_Storey]

Actually VE is a Private Company and their shares are not available on the market.

 

That is my understanding too, but the shareholders can still be approached privately, and if enough money was offered then who is to say they would not be tempted to sell?

 

Perhaps there are provisions in the Company Articles and Memorandum to prevent, or perhaps have first option on, such a share sale - I simply don't know.

[ArabiaTerra]

^^^^ Graeme, the only shareholders likely to be tempted by this would be the VE boys, and they only hold 5% of the shares between them, not enough to allow a buyer to change anything against the wishes of SSE or the CT.