Short-changing of Caithness over wind farms ‘has to stop’, argues Thurso community councillor
A Thurso community councillor claims her area is being given short shrift by the clutch of ongoing and planned large-scale wind farm and power line upgrade developments.
Corinne Nicklin believes local people are being short-changed while 'the county is being 'ripped up right, left and centre."
Speaking at last week's meeting, she asked: "Who is looking after Caithness?"
"In Thurso, our town is falling apart, our roads are falling apart, our schools are falling apart.
"Surely we should get some benefit from people coming up and riding roughshod over our area?"
Mrs Nicklin said Thurso particularly loses out as community benefit funds attached to commercial wind farms are focused on rural areas.
"What are we getting from this? Absolutely nothing.
"The whole county is just getting ripped up right, left and centre and there seems nothing we can do about it.
"The horse has already bolted on those that are already there but what about future developments?"
Mrs Nicklin said community benefit funding from the schemes could have been used to help bankroll a sports centre or to help improve the county's failing roads network.
Thurso Highland Councillor Struan Mackie said community benefit funds invariably exclude support for statutory public services.
He said: "The council tax should sustain the bare minimum we should expect of our public services. Private companies shouldn't have to subsidise that."
Councillor Mackie said Thurso has missed out on the community funds because of the rural location of wind farms.
He believed all communities in Caithness should get a share of the constraint payments paid by the UK government to compensate wind farm operators for switching off their turbines when supply exceeds demand.
He also supported moves to make community funds a legislative requirement.
The recommended going rate of £5000 per megawatt of power from onshore developments comes from a code of good practice produced by the Scottish government.
"The problem we have got is that community benefit is not laid down in law," he said.
Highland Council needs to be saying to the Scottish Government that it needs to be law," said Councillor Mackie.
He also said the rate needs to be increased as it has remained the same for more than 20 years.
Councillor Mackie said a barrier on progress remains the dearth of 'shovel-ready' community projects in the far north.
Highland Councillor Ron Gunn supported the creation of a Caithness-wide community benefit fund.