North East Communities Demand More than Lip Service on Renewables
Representatives from across Aberdeenshire, Angus, and Aberdeen City came together to share a reality that’s being repeated across rural Scotland: communities are being overwhelmed by industrial-scale renewable energy developments, yet they are shut out of the decisions that shape their landscapes, livelihoods, and wellbeing.
A tide of development, and a trickle of support
Speaker after speaker painted a similar picture.
At Tealing, a small community is facing a 225-acre substation and a 700-acre solar and battery development on top of existing infrastructure. Years of unpaid, voluntary effort have gone into reviewing hundreds of technical documents — a process so demanding that one council said it had become ‘a full-time job.’
In Feughside, multiple wind and solar projects are layered one on top of the other, despite local objections. There is a feeling of being overwhelmed, one representative highlighted that their Local Place Plan celebrated the wildness of their area and that that wildness will be erased by these developments.
From Torphins to Cluny, community groups have spent tens of thousands of pounds, just to be heard. Developers miss deadlines, submit incomplete studies, or publish consultations in obscure papers far from the communities actually affected.
One speaker described summed up the process as being expected to be partners in a system that doesn’t want their partnership.
What does a Community Council Member do?
For those unfamiliar — Community Councils are the grassroots of Scottish local democracy. Entirely voluntary, they represent local people’s views to decision-makers. Elected Community Council members don’t have salaries or supporting staff. Yet they are expected to digest complex planning applications, hold consultations, draft responses, and liaise with developers and politicians — as well as managing their ‘day jobs’, and responsibilities.
The scale and pace of energy infrastructure now hitting our communities means these unpaid volunteers are being asked to perform the functions of professional planning officers and legal teams — without the training, funding, or institutional support to match.
People are angry but they still want solutions
Very few in the hall rejected renewable energy. Most speakers recognised the urgent need to tackle climate change. What they opposed was a process that feels unjust, opaque and top-down — one that industrialises rural areas without delivering meaningful local benefit or democratic accountability.
There was a shared exhaustion at the ‘lip service’ of consultation and the ‘superficial attempts’ to badge developments as ‘community-owned.’
What was even more clear when many members attended public enquiries the developers didn’t have much (if any clue) on the impact their development would have on communities – some hadn’t even visited the proposed site! It smacked of land-grab and that developers were only focused on their priorities and had not considered the communities’, area or national priorities. Consultations were tokenistic at best, if they happened at all. As an essential step to ensure co-development – they need to be compulsory, genuine, accountable and protected by law.
Communities want a fair transition — not a ‘façade’. A great example of this and the sentiment from a community perspective was captured by Eileen West in her letter to the Press & Journal, 22 October edition regarding the situation in Banchory:
Ten things that would help to make renewables developments truly accessible, funded and fair:
- A National Spatial Plan for Land Use which includes where Renewables (including storage) are placed:
Development must be planned strategically, not by piecemeal, profit-driven applications before this current unplanned rush has a detrimental effect on Scotland. - Mandatory cumulative impact assessments
Planning applications must consider total local/area impact — environmental, economic, and social — not isolated site-by-site reviews. With minimum standards/ conditions not being met resulting in an instant refusal.
- Funded community participation
Community Councils need resourced support for technical review, consultation, and legal input — not voluntary burnout. They also should be funded for their time!
- Mandatory community shared ownership offer, and community benefit funds
Every renewable development should provide tangible, locally directed funding, with transparent, enforceable agreements. See Scottish Community Coalition on Energy call to action.
- Community rights of appeal
Communities should have a statutory right to challenge Scottish Government decisions that override local objections and be listened to.
- Proper public consultation standards
Developers must advertise locally, in plain language, and prove genuine engagement — not tick-box exercises. They need to prove that genuine engagement has happened before development even considered.
- Environmental accountability
Independent monitoring of ecological impacts, fire safety, and land use changes must be mandatory and substantive negative impacts heeded in the planning decision.
- Stronger local democracy
Decisions on major renewables should be reached in agreement with, not bypass local councils through the Energy Consents Unit — restore local decision-making powers.
- Clear National Energy Policy with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable (or Attainable), Relevant, and Time-bound) targets.
We need a joined-up plan linking generation and storage to demand, so projects serve real energy needs rather than subsidies.
- Community empowerment supported by organisations like NESCAN Hub
NESCAN (North East Scotland Climate Action Network) Hub is already offering advice, free membership, and coordination. Its support for community energy comprises funding signposting and capacity-building. We’d love every Community Council member to become part of our network. We share lots of information in our newsletters, on our social media and here on our website.
From fatigue to action
The message from the Convention was clear: communities are not against energy infrastructure development — they are against it being done to them, rather than communities being part of the just transition.
If Scotland’s energy future is to be just, it must also be democratic. That means giving Community Councils the respect, resources, and rights they need to protect their places while contributing meaningfully to net zero. Without this, a Just Transition will not be possible. For further information and resources look at the NESCAN-led Just Transition Communities Project website.
Our CEO, Alison, recently spoke to the First Minister raising the concerns outlined above and asking for a spatial Land Use plan. He said that he would take it back to talk to government. This ‘ask’ is part of our Manifesto Asks to create a fairer, healthier, sustainable economy and society for all. You can also join with us for calling for these necessary changes.
It’s time to turn consultation into collaboration. And that starts by really listening to and valuing the people on the ground.
Next steps to making a difference
- Join us, CES and DTAS and DTAS for the online event on 18th November, 1pm-2pm – register here Power in Community: Unlocking Shared Ownership and Community Benefits
- Join us on a free bus down to Glasgow for the Climate March on Saturday 15th November: Complete this form to save your seat.
- If you want to join our members’ group that is planning 1:2:1s with their MSPs get in touch
- Get in touch with and support your local Community Council Members!