NORoS NEWSLETTER

April 2025

Dear NORoS Supporter,

We are writing to remind you that the closing date for objections to the Balblair Wind Farm is Friday 25th April. For those of you who wish to make an objection and have not yet done so, our previous Objection Guidance document is attached and can also be accessed via our website at: https://www.noringofsteel.com/guidance-for-objections-3-1

Allt an Tuir

Anyone who regularly checks the Energy Consents website will have noticed that the unit has been very slow to load objections to Allt an Tuir Energy Park. This is likely because the unit is swamped with work, but it is worrying nonetheless for those of us whose objections have not yet been logged online. We will continue to follow up and keep you informed.

 Artificial Intelligence

One or two of you have contacted us about using the help of AI tools for objecting and have suggested that we should recommend AI. In response we decided to take professional advice. The result is that, while there is not yet any planning case law about AI, we have been warned most strenuously to avoid any suggestion that AI is an appropriate tool for making an objection. The advice we have received and pass on to you is that the best objections are those which are obviously both original and personal in nature. The objection is yours, there is no need to copy it to us and, however brief and simple your objection may be, it is important to use your own words.

We recognise that not everyone will agree with this advice, but for NORoS to be responsible and effective in representing local opinion through the many difficult stages of the planning process, it is in everyone’s interests that we take heed of professional guidance.

 Maree Todd Follow Up Meeting

Those of you who attended the meeting with Maree Todd in Bonar Bridge on 13th February will recall that the MSP stated then that she ‘heard our concerns’ and would pass these on and come back to inform us of her ‘efforts to have them resolved’. You will be pleased to hear that this has now been arranged. The follow up meeting will take place on Friday 9 May in Ardgay Public Hall, from 19:00-20:30, doors open at 18:30. We are very grateful to Tisi Dutton for organising and agreeing to chair this follow up meeting.

 Coille Beith Wind Farm

Statkraft, the company developing this wind farm, adjacent to the contentious Strath Oykel Wind Farm and almost opposite Oykel Bridge, held a further round of public exhibitions in early April. Their representatives advised they expect this development to enter the live planning process with submission of an EIA in May. Needless to say, we are all appalled and exhausted to be faced with yet another WF development in the delicate and precious environment of the Oykel River. You can be sure that we will let you know what is happening as soon as we do. Please consult our website https://www.noringofsteel.com/map-of-windfarms-1 for a map to help visualise the relationship between the WF developments which threaten to envelop Rosehall and the upper Kyle.

Funding support.

Please support NORoS in our activities. We are a small group of local residents putting in much of our own time to a David and Goliath battle against large corporations, many of them based outside the UK. We need your HELP. This could be time and energy if you are able, or it could be a financial contribution, however small. You can contact NORoS to volunteer on this email address noringofsteel@gmail.com and/or donate to NORoS via a bank transfer to Bank of Scotland, Account name: NOROS, Sort code: 80 22 60, Account number: 17619760, ensuring you give your name or email us so that it can be acknowledged. Or by cheque, which should be made out to NOROS and posted to The NORoS treasurer, The Old Library, Altass, Lairg, IV27 4EU. NORoS and its supporters have in the past funded specialist advice to enable us to make well-argued and highly specific objections to wind farm applications, enquiries and reviews. To do this, and to employ media consultants and other experts to get the message out, we need financial support and would be very grateful for any donation you can afford. 

Thank you from the NORoS Committee!