Crofting

Stornoway Wind Farm would be situated across a number of common grazings to the west of Stornoway and therefore approval is required from the Scottish Land Court for a ‘scheme for development’ in accordance with section 19A of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. This process has been followed by a number of wind developments in recent years.

S19a scheme for development

  1. The Land Court approved the LWP S.19a in July 2021; the Court accepted that LWP Offer to Crofters represented fair compensation for Crofters.
  2. LWP are currently awaiting Consent for a new Section 36 Consent which proposed changes to the size, number and location of turbines. Due to the proposed changes to the design of the Wind Farm a new S.19Aa will be required.
  3. The new S.19a reflects that recently approved by the Land Court with some minor revisions. Rental terms will remain the same and there will be anuplift to Gross Income Rent.
  4. A successful community drop in event was held over two days in the Stornoway Town Hall in November 2021. This gave the community an opportunity to call in and see what changes were being proposed and to raise any questions / concerns with the LWP representatives that were present.
  5. The mechanism governing the share of rent between grazings is to remain the same.

The Land Court will soon be assessing the revised scheme that we have developed in close consultation with local grazings. In summary, as with the first “approved scheme”, this statutory process is designed to protect interested parties by ensuring that

  1. the development is for a “reasonable purpose”,
  2. carrying it out would not be “unfair”,
  3. there is fair recompense to each member of the crofting community in the area affected by the development for the effects of the development, and
  4. the Land Court is satisfied that the community would be likely to benefit financially.

In addition to the payments made to relevant grazings, the wind farm would also deliver a number of indirect benefits, such as new access tracks and fencing.

It is important to stress that rights to grazing would continue, though there would be restrictions on access during construction. The physical area ultimately taken up by the turbines and other wind farm infrastructure would represent a small percentage of the overall grazings, meaning that there would be limited impact on local crofting activity.

Common Grazings