Caithness campaigner accuses energy developers of ‘10 tricks’ to push projects through planning

A Caithness campaigner has compiled a list of “10 tricks” allegedly being used by developers to push renewable energy projects through the planning system with “little public accountability”.

Mey resident Andy Hayton is concerned about the “minimal scrutiny” of what he calls “industrial-scale projects that threaten local landscapes, communities and cultural heritage”.

Mr Hayton is opposing the Mey Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), calling it an “industrial eyesore” that will “brutalise the tranquil and historic landscape of Mey” if it is allowed to go ahead.

Objectors to the proposal – on a site just a couple of miles from the Castle of Mey – have voiced concerns over the potential environmental and tourism impacts as well what they see as a lack of local benefit.

The application now lies with the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit, which will make a final decision, after Highland councillors agreed last month to raise an objection.

Mr Hayton said: “What’s happening here isn’t a ‘just transition’ – it’s an industrial land grab, one project at a time.

“Developers know how to play the system. Communities don’t stand a chance unless we call out these tricks for what they are.”

He said different projects may all be located on a single landholding, yet can be the subject of separate applications “to avoid cumulative environmental scrutiny”.

The “10 developer tricks” he has identified are:

• Fragmenting projects – “breaking a mega-project into smaller ones to bypass full environmental impact assessments”.

• Claiming “no significant impact” – “pressuring authorities to rule that projects don’t need proper scrutiny”.

• Offering “empty promises” – “vague community benefits that never materialise”.

• Using paid experts – “developers fund the environmental assessments that downplay risks”.

• Bypassing local control – “using government routes (such as the Energy Consents Unit) to “override councils”.

• “Greenwashing” – “pretending industrial builds are ‘sustainable’ or ‘net-zero’”.

• Planning “by stealth” – “building substations or batteries to lock in approval for the rest”.

• Holiday deadlines – launching consultations over Christmas or summer when fewer are likely to respond.

• Public relations “theatre” – “staged consultation events with no intent to listen”.

• Fire-risk denial – “ignoring or downplaying lithium battery fire hazards, despite global incidents”.

Mr Hayton said he and fellow residents have submitted formal objections, freedom of information requests and expert safety briefings

“We are not anti-renewables,” Mr Hayton stressed. “We’re pro-truth, pro-safety and pro-democracy. This isn’t green. This is greedy – and the people of Caithness deserve better.”

At the April meeting of Highland Council’s north planning applications committee, members agreed to raise an objection to the Mey BESS on the basis that “the cumulative effect of this development along with nearby existing and proposed developments” would be contrary to the Highland-wide Local Development Plan.

They also argued that it “does not ensure the distinctive character of the rural area and the natural assets and cultural heritage are safeguarded and enhanced, specifically the close proximity of the Castle of Mey”.

The proposed battery storage site has been allocated 17 football pitches’ worth of agricultural land.

The developer, Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) – the company behind the MeyGen tidal energy project in the Pentland Firth – says the project will help the transition to net-zero and provide energy security with “minimal impact”.

There would be approximately 352 containerised battery units with a total export storage capacity of up to 300MW “with associated inverters, switchgear units, closed loop cooling units, control units and associated electrical infrastructure mounted on concrete piers”.

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