
30 Jan 2025
The final day of the Greystone Knowe inquiry took place today, and the morning’s session focused solely on the issue of Eskdalemuir Seismological Array (ESA) which lies at the heart of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD’s) objection.
The MoD is a statutory consultee for wind farm developments proposed within a 50 km radius of the ESA – one of the UK’s primary assets for tracking underground nuclear tests and earthquakes worldwide. Wind farms are not currently permitted within 50 km of the ESA and, as Greystone Knowe would exceed the ESA’s acceptable threshold of seismic impact, the MoD has objected.
In response, the developer (applicant) has proposed a “suspensive condition”, a clause that stipulates a particular criterion that must be met in order for a contract to come into force. In this case it would be until new guidance regarding seismic impact limits is published.
The legal team for the MoD argued that the suspensive condition is “incompetent, unnecessary and irrelevant”. The hearing statement on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence stated: “Firstly, the proposed suspensive condition is incompetent. Properly understood it would not enable a final determination of the application. It cannot be discharged until such time (if at all) the MoD removes its objection.”
Currently the MoD is working with the Scottish Government and the Eskdalemuir Working Group (EWG) to establish the nature of interference from wind turbines and whether there will be any changes to the regulations relating to the ESA’s seismic impact limit. The work is highly technical and complex, and therefore it is unknown when, or if, new guidance will be available.
The Secretary of State for Defence’s written statement said: “The question as to whether the seismic ground vibration of the wind turbines within the development shall not cause seismic ground vibration with 50 km of the Array to exceed 0.336 nm is not straightforward.
“It is simply unknown as to whether and when all of the foregoing work will be completed and accepted by the MOD, and whether there will be headroom available for this specific development at Greystone Knowe.”
Another key point argued by the legal team was that the suspensive condition proposed by the applicant is “extremely unusual” and not “conventional” as it seeks to remove the MoD’s objection and would put the decision into the hands of Scottish Ministers.
The Secretary of State for Defence hearing statement outlines: “Finally and crucially, the MoD's position is that the safeguarding of the Array should not be forfeited to another entity, in the present application the Scottish Ministers. The MoD consider that, having regard to their international obligations (which are not devolved to the Scottish Ministers and who have no competence in that regard) they, the MoD, and they alone should determine whether there is sufficient headroom available so as to remove its objection to the grant of consent.
“A suspensive condition which - as it must as a matter of law - puts this decision into the hands of the consenting authority (here, the Scottish Ministers) removes responsibility for safeguarding the Array from the MoD and would seriously prejudice its ability to do so. This is particularly significant in the context of defence and national security and the United Kingdom's compliance with international obligations, being matters reserved to the UK Government.”
During the session Faw Side Wind Farm was referenced – a similar case where the ESA threshold would have been reached and the developer argued that consent should be granted subject to a suspensive condition (relying on a proposed programme of research which it said would in due course establish that sufficient capacity is available). The Scottish Government refused consent and accepted the MoD’s arguments.
The afternoon of the inquiry focused on noise levels. The applicant has accepted that the development will expose some properties to noise levels which significantly exceed the levels that have been accepted in the past by the Scottish Borders Council. In quiet rural areas, such as the location of Greystone Knowe, the Scottish Borders Council has previously based its decisions on the principle that noise exposure should not exceed 35 dB(A).
Professor Gordon Hughes gave evidence on behalf of Heriot Community Council. In his written submission he stated: “From the perspective of the noise impact of the Greystone Knowe project on its neighbours, this is just a bad project. This was obvious from the original Environmental Impact Assessment and the request by the project developer to increase the noise limit from 35 dB(A) to 37 dB(A). The addition of noise from the proposed Wull Muir wind farm worsens the assessment because Wull Muir increases the cumulative noise impact at the two locations worst affected by Greystone Knowe – Wester Corsehope and Corsehope Farm.
“The whole point of carrying out an Environmental Impact Assessment before a project is submitted for planning consent is to consider and incorporate changes to the project design to eliminate the unacceptable impacts of the project. In this case, the applicant had made no serious attempt to follow this guidance. Instead, its response has been to ask for less stringent limits on noise impacts and to gloss over the fact that even their own proposed noise limits cannot be met.”
The next steps in the inquiry include some site visits to follow up on various matters regarding to light and visual impacts, as well as written closing submissions to the Reporter.
Today’s session can be viewed here: https://dpea.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/949617