Part of Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 May 2024.
Màiri McAllan
Scottish National Party
NPF4, which is more the domain of the Minister for Public Finance than it is mine, makes it clear that the impacts on communities, nature and other things, including the cumulative impact, which Ms Whitham is absolutely right to mention, are important considerations in the decision-making process. All applications for site-specific developments will be considered and assessed, and I reiterate that local communities must always have their say.
We are aware that some communities are experiencing an intensification of renewable energy development proposals. Our planning officials have been engaging with communities across Scotland to support better collaborative working. We are also calling on the United Kingdom Government to make changes to modernise Scotland’s consenting regime under the UK Electricity Act 1989. That would, among other things, require pre-application community engagement to become mandatory, which I think Ms Whitham’s constituents would welcome. We have written to all parties offering the opportunity to work with the Scottish Government in pursuit of that aim.
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