Scottish Government Accused of Breaching Duties Over Power Station

It now seems that residents next to a major coal fired power station have accused the Scottish government of breaching its duties to consult with people about a proposal. The community says that the government has legal duties to consult with the local public before any such development takes place.

Plans for Danish power company Dong have been supported by Alex Salmond to build a major coal fire station in Ayrshire. This new building will be replacing the Hunterston nuclear power plant. The claim right now is that this coal burning station will soon be fitted with clean coal carbon capture technology that will actually be able to limit the CO2 emissions from the planet.

Either way, these local residents have now asked judges in Edinburgh to block this decision by the Scottish government to give the power station special protected status under planning regulations. Environmentalists go on to say that Salmond’s climate change strategies are undermined by his support for coal.

Reports go on to point out that Salmond’s climate change strategies include things like a 42 percent emissions cut by 2020. Alex Salmond has also called for the Longannet coal mine located in Fife to be reopened.

It has also been noted now that, last December, a 1.6GW power station, which could now open in 2014, has been quietly added to a priority list in the national planning framework. This comes just eight months after the main public consultation on the framework had already been closed. The Scottish government has refused to discuss these matters. However, they did note that the public will be able to have their say in the matter.