23 Feb 2026
Community councillors from the Scottish Borders have reacted with dismay as their concerns were dismissed by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action, Gillian Martin MSP, at a roundtable event in Holyrood today.
Organised by Highland Councillor Helen Crawford with support from Tim Eagle MSP, community councils from the Highland region, North East Scotland and the Scottish Borders met the Cabinet Secretary to raise their concerns about the proliferation of renewable energy developments across rural Scotland and the Scottish government’s disdain for local democracy.
The Minister attended the first part of the meeting but rejected the proposal to call a halt to new construction, pending a strategic energy plan.
Councillor Helen Crawford told the meeting: "The minister was here for 40 minutes and she wanted to know what good engagement could look like.
"What does engagement look like? It doesn't look like 40 minutes to meet people who have been grappling with this for years, some for decades.
"This is an issue that won't go away. The Scottish government needs to get a grip and deal with it."
Bob Hope, from Leitholm, Birgham and Eccles Community Council, said: “What the Minister said came as no surprise. She did not listen to the points being made and didn't recognise the issues being caused by her policies.
"There was no movement from her at all, and it looks like the Scottish Government will continue to be driven by diktat not democracy."
Rory Steel, Chair of Lauderdale Preservation Group, added: “Our views are being ignored. The Scottish government has created a system that rubberstamps almost every renewable energy development, even where the local authority has objected to the scheme, where local communities are opposed and in areas of outstanding natural beauty. Democratically elected councillors and local people are being treated with utter contempt.
“The current situation is absurd – the mass proliferation of wind farms, battery storage sites, roads and buildings, in parts of Scotland which are internationally recognised for their magnificent natural scenery. The beauty and tranquillity of the Scottish Borders is being decimated by these giant turbines that often cannot be used. All new construction must be halted until there is an agreed energy strategy for Scotland.”
Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, who attended the meeting, said: "While I welcomed Energy Secretary Gillian Martin MSP’s attendance at the round table and appreciated her willingness to listen to communities impacted by major energy infrastructure projects, it was deeply disappointing that calls for a moratorium on energy planning applications were rejected without explanation.
"We all want an energy grid capable of meeting modern demands. However, the minister failed to acknowledge that, in the absence of a coherent national energy strategy, the Scottish Government is letting down rural communities. These communities are bearing the brunt of an over-proliferation of unnecessary energy applications that are industrialising our beautiful Borders landscape.
"I urge Gillian Martin to reflect seriously on the concerns being raised by local communities and to implement an immediate pause on planning applications until the Scottish Government publishes a clear and comprehensive energy strategy."
In the Scottish Borders there are 23 significant windfarms currently in operation (616 turbines in total), with 22 further developments either under construction or submitted for planning approval.