15 Apr 2025
Concerns over the creeping industrialisation of the Scottish Borders countryside have been reignited following yet another planning application for a large-scale energy development.
Sunlaws Development Company Limited has lodged a bid with Scottish Borders Council to construct and operate a 49.5MW battery energy storage system (BESS) – the latest in a growing number of renewable energy schemes being proposed across the region.
The project, named Shielburn Energy Park, is earmarked for land adjacent to the already expansive Fallago Rig substation on the Roxburghe Estate, northwest of Keepers House at Byrecleugh in Longformacus, near Duns.
Critics argue that the continued influx of industrial-scale energy projects is fundamentally altering the character of the Borders landscape, traditionally known for its natural beauty, heather moorlands, and rural tranquility.
Despite a series of accompanying reports that address potential impacts on heritage, culture, flood risk, and archaeology, concerns remain about the cumulative effect of these developments on the environment and local communities.
Heritage advocates have noted the site's proximity to the scheduled monument at Dunside Hill. While the developer maintains that there would be no impact on the setting of the monument, sceptics have pointed out that repeated assurances of minimal disruption have not always been borne out in similar projects.
Local voices continue to question how many such installations the region can reasonably absorb before the cumulative effect begins to permanently alter its landscape, ecology, and cultural heritage.