Tuesday February 3rd 2026
Soutra wind farm in Lauder
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A Scottish government body that has the final say on renewable energy projects in the Borders has come under fire for “blocking” objections.
Campaigners claim the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) has taken further steps to prevent local communities from raising concerns about wind farms and other energy proposals, by cutting the length of submissions that can be made via its new portal.
The ECU has put a limit of 37,000 characters on submissions to their online system – just over 6,000 words.
It has also emerged that it will no longer be possible to email the ECU – the most commonly used channel of communication.
Only letters sent by post or online submissions via the portal will be allowed.
The Scottish government says the new online system will “make it easier for members of the public to submit representations on energy applications” and that the measures are necessary to meet urgent energy infrastructure needs while still allowing for public consultation.
However, none of the objections submitted by members of the public for a week long period late last month appeared on the ECU portal while local residents did not receive acknowledgement that their comments had been registered.
It’s a major concern for Rory Steel, chair of Lauderdale Preservation Group.
He said: “First they ban us from emailing them and now we’ve found out that documents over 37,000 characters are being rejected.
“This is woefully insufficient when you consider the length of applications submitted by the developers and what is needed to respond to them. We also don’t know whether previous submissions have been accepted or discarded.
“If that wasn’t bad enough, the new ‘modernised’ portal is completely out of action and not accepting comments of any length. We are being shut out, blocked and ignored.
“Will they say that no-one has objected to the next round of giant turbines, solar farms, battery storage sites and pylons? Lauderdale is being industrialised, totally against the wishes of ordinary people.”
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