Soil and water sampling in wind farm planning appeals: EIR release

Information requested

I request "all recorded" information held by the Scottish Ministers concerning any soil and/or water sampling conducted in relation to wind farm developments that have been commissioned by Scottish Ministers or Reporters for Public Local Inquiry's, and been subject to:

1. Ministerial appeal processes, including Section 36 and Section 37 consents under the Electricity Act 1989; and/or

2. Public Local Inquiries (PLIs) convened as part of wind farm planning or consent appeals.

Specifically, I request the following: 

• The names and locations of any wind farm developments where soil and/or water sampling data has been held, commissioned, reviewed, or referred to during any appeal or PLI process. For the avoidance of doubt, this request explicitly refers to any soil and/or water sampling data that was directly commissioned, instructed, or independently obtained by Scottish Ministers or their agents, and not to any data solely provided by developers or third-party applicants as part of standard planning submissions.
• The dates on which any such sampling was conducted or submitted into the record.
• The type of samples taken (e.g. soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment).
• The parameters tested for (e.g. pH, hydrocarbons, heavy metals, concrete leachate, radon, etc.).
• The raw sampling results, including laboratory data or unaltered technical records (where held).
• Any reports, internal assessments, or correspondence held by the Scottish Ministers in which the above sampling data was discussed, analysed, or relied upon.
• Any direction or requirement issued by the Scottish Ministers or a PLI Reporter for soil or water sampling to be undertaken, either before, during, or after the appeal or inquiry process.

Please note, if no such raw data exists - "independently obtained", then this should be clearly and legibly stated in any response to my request.

Clarifications to Narrow Scope:

• I am not requesting full EIA submissions by developers unless those submissions contain data commissioned or directly used by the Scottish Ministers, DPEA, or a Planning Reporter.
• I limit this request to the period from 5 December 2005 to the present day.
• If no such sampling has ever been conducted, commissioned, or used in any appeal or PLI, I request formal "written confirmation" of this fact under the EIRs.
• I specifically request “raw sampling data” where held, and not merely summary findings or restated developer claims.

Statutory Duty of Assistance:

In accordance with your duty under Regulation 9 of the EIRs to provide advice and assistance, I am happy to clarify any aspect of this request should genuine ambiguity arise.

Format of Response:

I request that you provide the information in electronic format via email where possible.

With a later clarification of:

I confirm that my request covers the following in full:

All wind farm planning permission appeals, regardless of their route of determination — including but not limited to written submissions, site inspections, hearings, inquiries, or any combination thereof.

All relevant applications made under both the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Electricity Act 1989 (including Section 36 and Section 37 consent processes).

Response

With regard to your request at Point 1 (Ministerial appeal processes, including Section 36 and Section 37 consents under the Electricity Act 1989)

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because Scottish Ministers do not commission such sampling in relation to wind farm developments. Any environmental information we hold in relation to wind farm developments would be published on the Energy Consents Unit portal.

Therefore we are refusing this request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held). This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Taking account of all the circumstances in this case we have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception because we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

You may find it helpful to visit the Energy Consents Unit online Portal whereby all relevant documents relating to applications are published:

https://www.energyconsents.scot/Default.aspx

From the main page of the portal, click on the search tab, followed by 'Advanced Search'. There you will find options to filter according to your needs such as by case type, project type and status, before selecting the 'go' button which returns the relevant applications in the search results. Within each application you’ll find a 'Documents' section containing all relevant materials, including associated environmental data.

With regard to your request at Point 2 (Public Local Inquiries (PLIs) convened as part of wind farm planning or consent appeals).

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because Reporters would never ‘directly commission’ such sampling. If such sampling was required, the appellant/ applicant would be requested to undertake it. That would be done as part of a request to provide further environmental information and would in turn be undertaken by the appellant/ applicant such information being subject to advertising and consultation and forming part of the standard appeal submissions.

Therefore we are refusing this request under the exception at regulation 10 (4)(a) of the EIRs. This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Taking account of all the circumstances in this case we have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception because we cannot provide information which we do not hold. If it may be of some assistance, I have attached a spreadsheet of planning permission appeal windfarm cases held by DPEA along with their reference numbers.

You may wish to review cases which may be of interest and any documents contained within via the DPEA website via the following link:

http://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk

On entering the website, enter the reference number of interest and click the blue link. Please note in line with the Scottish Government's retention policy our records go back no further than 2010.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500473933 - Information Released - Spreadsheet

File type

Excel document

File size

44.7 kB