What to write in an objection

An objection should be a written statement and it should be personal.  It doesn’t have to be well written, very eloquent or very long.  Every opinion counts!

Most importantly, don’t forget to write that you object and don’t forget your name and address.

You can explain who you are and why you care.  You can use your local knowledge to make good arguments.  If you have read some of the application and have found errors and things missing, point them out.  Write about what you know and what you care about!

Some valid reasons to object are:

Cumulative impact – We have more and more developments up here and the combined impact is much worse than the impact of just one development.  You can also point out that there is always more infrastructure in order to build and connect a specific development, and often this additional infrastructure is not mentioned in the application.

Negative impact on wildlife and nature, in particular impact on endangered species, impact on peat, impact on trees, but also impact on designated sites including rivers and coasts – If you know the area of the development and you have seen endangered animals there mention the sightings!  If the development is on or next to peaty ground, you can mention how important undisturbed peat is for capturing CO2 and you can mention that we should protect and not destroy the peat.  If you know that trees will have to be felled to make way for the development, mention them and mention that newly planted trees are not as valuable for nature as well-established trees.

Impact on tourism – Maybe you work in the tourism industry, and you can talk about the reasons why tourist come up here and how much money they bring.  It will not be to visit endless substations, turbines or solar arrays…

Impact on agriculture – Maybe you are a farmer, and you know how valuable farmland is and how we can’t afford to lose more of it if we want to be able to provide the food we need.  Maybe you already have experience of developers accessing land without permission and causing damage that is never repaired. You can write about that.

Noise impact – Maybe you already live close to some noisy infrastructure, or you know someone who does.  In this case you can write about how bad the current situation already is and how restrictions are not followed through.

Construction impact – There is dust, increased traffic, closed roads, noise and vibration from construction and from blasting bedrock which might affect you.  Maybe you live on a single-track road leading to the proposed development.  The complications of that will not have been taken into consideration.  You can write about the impact on the roads and the impact on your daily life.  If the development is close to a river you can talk about the risk of pollution during construction.

Impact on private water supplies – Mention private water supplies in the area if you know about any.

Impact on the community including visual impact – While the loss of view for one property is not a valid reason to object,  the visual impact on a community is.  This could be the visual impact on a larger settlement or the impact on road users.  Particularly bad is, if the visual impact is very unstructured: different heights of turbines, different gaps between developments, different types of developments mixed together.

Effects of light pollution – Some areas in Caithness are still very dark and a lot of developments cause considerable light pollution. This can be through flood lights used not only during construction but also during normal operation of the site, or it can be through safety lighting necessary because of the height of the structures.

Impact on listed buildings and historical sites – Maybe you know about listed or historical sites in the area, and you can write about the impact on them.  There is not only the visual impact to consider but also damage through vibration during construction and during operation.

Risk of a serious incident – There is a risk of a serious incident through faulty equipment, failing equipment, human error, terrorism, etc.   For developments with batteries this risk is particularly grave.  If an incident happens there is the risk of fire spreading (also under the surface if peat is close by), of pollution through toxic smoke and contaminated water runoff, and there is the problem that our firefighting service is not equipped to deal with such incidents (hence Dounreay has its own police and fire service!)

Question of need – Like everyone living here you will have seen that the turbines are often turned off, when the wind is blowing. That happens because the electricity cannot be used. Currently about 25% of wind electricity generating capacity in the north is 'constrained' or turned off when the wind is blowing. That demonstrates that there is no need for more wind turbines in the area. Speculators will still try to see whether they can get consent for more turbines here, because they don't pay the true cost of putting them here. The wind turbine developers get paid when they are constrained. 

Personal stress - Worry and stress over various matters and impact on quality of life for you and your family can be mentioned.