17 Apr 2026
Community councils, local conservation groups and councillors from across the South of Scotland will call for a halt to renewable energy projects at two conventions next week in Lauder and Moffat (18 April and 25 April).
Dozens of representatives from community councils, Councillors and concerned local residents will gather at Lauder Public Hall and Moffat Town Hall to adopt the Unified Statement, which urges the Scottish Government to pause construction of major energy schemes until a strategic energy plan for Scotland is in place and an economic impact assessment has been undertaken.
MP John Lamont, who represents Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, is expected to attend the Lauder event.
Around 200 Community Councils in Scotland have already adopted the Unified Statement, with 20 in the Scottish Borders including: Walkerburn and District, Gordon & Westruther, Leadhills, Southdean, Heriot, Tweedsmuir, Lauderdale and Duns.
In addition, community councils in Perth & Kinross, Ayrshire, Berwickshire, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Shetland and South Lanarkshire have also signed the unified statement.
Convention organiser Bob Hope, a member of Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham Community Council, said:
“We understand the need for renewable energy and the impact of climate change. What is happening now in rural Scotland is unplanned, reckless development by faceless energy giants, which get paid when they produce energy and paid when they don’t. The countryside is being devastated and the views of local people are simply ignored.
“Just in the Scottish Borders alone there are over 4,000 huge turbines, visible from miles around – not to mention vast battery storage systems, roads and pylon lines. The Scottish Government has decreed that climate change must be the key factor in determining energy applications. But all this renewable power is going to waste because the grid is overwhelmed. Paying developers to turn off their wind turbines is a waste of taxpayers’ money. It is a senseless industrialization of the countryside.”
Local community concerns focus on the proliferation of energy developments, the lack of any cumulative impact assessment and the controversial National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).
There is also a call for the 50 megawatts threshold at which plans are referred for approval to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU) to be raised to at least 100MW, to give local authorities more control. Several projects have been approved by the ECU and rubber stamped by ministers despite objections from local authority planning committees. The ECU has never refused permission for a battery energy storage system (BESS).
“The Scottish Government must now listen to us. Planning policy is fully devolved and it is the Scottish Government which is imposing this blight on our landscape. To carry on with this wrongheaded rush to renewables would be disastrous. We are destroying our natural heritage and for what – there is no benefit for Scotland. It goes against all the messages we hear from politicians about sustainable development, protection of our environment and local accountability. Future generations will look back on this period and see it as a complete disaster. What legacy are we leaving for them?” added Mr Hope.
The meeting at Lauder Public Hall starts at 1.30pm on Saturday, 18 April and is expected to finish around 3.30pm.
The Moffat Town Hall meeting takes place on Saturday 25 April, from 1.30-3.30pm.
To attend either event, or for more information visit Lauderdale Preservation Group https://savelauderdale.com/2026/04/12/18-25-april-south-scotland-community-council-convention-2nd-meeting/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRPFPNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEehfVshI7g1TnJ5jzdsIeXuuMisg6AQAvHBdRfqylP9Drve-IM3Pzogpbe-jo_aem_XF9bwHdCdFpvPq9U0Sp-Ng