In the latest edition of the John Muir Trust Journal – under the title ‘Protecting the wild’ – Head of Policy Thomas Widrow reports on discussions with communities across Scotland affected by industrial developments in wild places. He sets the scene with a clear declaration:

‘Before going further, it is important to clarify one thing. The Trust fully recognises the climate crisis and the urgency of addressing it. Indeed, the climate crisis is already affecting landscapes and communities across Scotland and the wider UK.’

Widrow notes that ‘Many of the people I meet in communities facing large-scale developments recognise this. Their concern is not about whether Scotland should move to renewable energy. It is about how that transition happens, and where’.

He writes about campaigners ‘visibly distraught’ that much-loved landscapes on their doorsteps are now threatened by development, and of the pressure communities face when multiple large developments are proposed at the same time: ‘Many have spent months reading planning documents, organising responses and preparing detailed objections, even in the face of incredibly poor odds.’

‘Once it’s gone, it’s gone’

Turning to developers who ‘sometimes argue that communities should accept these projects in return for limited local benefits’, Widrow records that many residents feel they are being asked to trade long-term landscape change for relatively small compensation. As one campaigner in Inverness-shire told him: “It’s not just about the here and now. It’s about a legacy we need to protect – because once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

The Trust is supporting communities by looking to reform the planning system to ensure protections for the country’s wildest landscapes:

‘The aim would not be delay for its own sake, but for time to ensure that Scotland’s climate response protects nature as well as the climate. With careful planning, Scotland can achieve both. Renewable energy can be developed in ways that respect landscapes and ecosystems, while communities play a meaningful role in shaping decisions that affect their surroundings.

‘We want to help create a Scotland where communities are driving development, not fighting them; where we all use less energy and have access to what we need for less, eliminating fuel poverty in a country that is incredibly energy rich; and where each wind turbine contributes to fighting the nature crisis and delivering climate justice. ‘

‘The alternative – allowing the transition to unfold without that balance – risks the destruction of Scotland’s wild landscapes. Communities across the country are asking for a better approach. The Trust will add its weight to help make that case because those communities and wild places deserve better.’

The full article is here. We encourage Save Glen Lednock supporters to join the John Muir Trust, working with other rural communities in the campaign for balanced energy and planning policies across Scotland: Protecting and repairing wild places | John Muir Trust