20 Aug 2026
Community councils and concerned residents from the Scottish Borders are heading to Perthshire to support the Perth & Kinross community council convention next week (Saturday 29 August).
Dozens of representatives from community councils, councillors and concerned local residents will gather in Fowlis Wester to urge the Scottish Government to pause construction of major energy schemes until a strategic energy plan for Scotland is in place.
More than 200 Community Councils in Scotland have already adopted the ‘Unified Statement’, originally put forward by Highland Councillor Helen Crawford, calling for a halt to unplanned energy infrastructure.
In the Scottish Borders around 20 community councils have signed up, including: Walkerburn and District, Gordon & Westruther, Leadhills, Southdean, Heriot, Tweedsmuir, Lauderdale and Duns.
Jim McColl of East Strathearn Community Council in Perthshire said: "The pace and scale of development happening now is like nothing we've ever seen.
"There are eight wind farms in the pipeline in this small area, totalling 99 turbines, which would industrialise our precious countryside and seriously damage community life.
"That's not including the six wind farms already in operation and two further developments already approved, about to be built."
Bob Hope, a member of Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham Community Council and chair of the South of Scotland Community Councils’ Convention, who will be speaking at the Fowlis Wester event, said:
“There is growing anger over Scotland’s rush to construct more and more renewable energy infrastructure in some of our most treasured scenic places.
“The scale of unplanned, senseless development is unprecedented. The countryside is being devastated and the views of local people are dismissed time and time again.
“Why doesn’t the Scottish government protect our moors, glens, hills and mountains? These landscapes attract visitors from all over the world. It is only the Scottish government, seemingly, that doesn’t appreciate our natural environment.”
The conventions are being organised at a time when the cost of ‘curtailment’ has reached a record high. In 2025 the cost was £1.5bn, but it is expected to reach at least £2 bn this year. Curtailment arises because Scotland is producing many times more power than can be used locally and the national grid cannot transport all the wind energy generated in Scotland to where it can be used, mainly in England.
Energy companies are therefore compensated for not producing power, and in England short-term energy plants are activated, to meet local demand.
Mr Hope continued:
“Just in the Scottish Borders alone there are over 600 wind turbines, each of them over 200 metres tall – the height of 44 double decker buses stacked on top of each other -- not to mention all the vast battery energy storage systems. The Scottish Government is giving the green light to more and more development, even though we already have far too much energy for our needs.
“The power can’t be used locally and can’t be exported to the rest of the UK. Meanwhile big energy companies are being paid to turn off their turbines. It is a scandalous waste of taxpayers’ money and it has to stop.”
The Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU) based in Glasgow has granted consent for numerous energy developments, despite objections from local authority planning committees. The ECU has never refused permission for a battery energy storage system (BESS).
The Perth & Kinross convention takes place at Fowlis Wester Village Hall on Saturday 29 August, from 2-4 pm.
In addition a further convention will be held in Shetland on Saturday 22 August, with MP Alistair Carmichael and MSP Hannah Mary Goodlad expected to attend.