8 Sept 2025
Scottish Borders Council today opposed an Electricity Act application for a new wind farm development at Ditcher Law near Oxton, raising hopes of a public local inquiry.
The Planning and Building Standards Committee opposed the development by one vote, with Committee Chair, Councillor Simon Mountford, casting the decisive vote. The Council’s own official advice recommended supporting the application.
It is hoped that Scottish Ministers may now grant a full Public Local Inquiry into the planned development.
The Ditcher Law development proposes eight wind turbines of between 180m and 200m, along with an access road and associated battery storage site.
The proposed site is within a Special Landscape Area and in close proximity to several existing wind developments including Dun Law, Dun Law Extension, Pogbie, Pogbie 2, Toddleburn and Keith Hill.
During the Committee meeting, concerns were raised about the significant visual impact of the development, the over-provision of renewable energy relative to the needs of Scotland, the lack of perceived benefit for local people, the ‘vast number’ of other wind turbines in the area, the potential impact on aviation, the close proximity of the site to three scheduled monuments and the significant loss of amenity for homeowners in the immediate vicinity.
John Williams, Chairman of Heriot Community Council said: “We welcome the careful consideration of this matter by Scottish Borders Council and the considerable time they have spent engaging with the local community and visiting the proposed site. There must now be a public local inquiry so that all the concerns raised by Councillors and by the local community can be properly assessed.
“People in the Scottish Borders recognise the importance of renewable energy, but we are being blanketed in giant turbines that are visible for miles around. The amount of renewable power being generated far exceeds the amount required for the whole of Scotland. We urge Ministers to grant a Public Local Inquiry into Ditcher Law.”
During the meeting, Councillor Jane Cox raised the issue of the development’s backers being from outwith Scotland, along with the fact that there are already a vast number of turbines in the area. Councillor Marshall Douglas raised concerns about the risk of despoiling the beauty of the natural landscape.
Councillor Simon Mountford expressed his fears that the development will have a significant impact on the residential amenity of the area, adding that all the existing wind farms in the region are entitled to replace their wind turbines with new structures in the coming years – these may be the same height or larger, adding to the detrimental effect on the landscape, designated as a Special Landscape Area.
Close to Ditcher Law, there is also a proposed wind farm at Glenburnie (Longcroft), while the Dun Law and Dun Law Extension wind farms are being assessed by the operators for re-powering, as the existing turbines now need replacing. It is assumed the existing turbines (approximately 70m in height) will be replaced by far higher ones in the range of 180m to 220m high.
The Council’s response to Ditcher Law was outwith the statutory deadline, no extension had been granted by the ECU, and the Officers had not submitted a holding objection in order to preserve the statutory right to a Public Local Inquiry. The matter will now rest with Ministers.
Wind energy generation in Scotland is at an all-time high – and current Scottish energy demand, and all future demand, is already met several times over.
Scottish government energy statistics (published December 2024) show that purely for onshore wind, there is currently 14.6GW of operational capacity. A further 32 new onshore wind farm developments are under construction, providing an additional 1.5GW.
Planning permission has been granted for 225 projects, which will deliver an additional 4.9GW capacity. This totals 21GW, not including many other developments at various stages in the planning system (such as revised applications or appeals to planning decisions).
By contrast, OFGEM predicts future demand in Scotland of 9.4GW in the winter and 7GW in the summer by 2050.