Hunterston enquiry gets the bird?

The public inquiry into the £3 billion coal-fired power station proposed for Hunterston now seems pointless, since a new Scottish Government report has rejected the need for additional coal-fired plants anywhere in the country. Proceeding with the enquiry is likely to cost upwards of a million pounds, and Alan Hill, an SNP councillor at North Ayrshire Council, said, ‘It would be good to save taxpayers the expense of an inquiry.’

As 20,000 people objected to the proposed scheme and each one of them has the right to speak to the reporter individually, the inquiry is likely to be a massive exercise. However, NAC as the relevant planning authority has not withdrawn its objection, and the Scottish Government cannot risk a complaint from either side that its new report has prejudiced the inquiry, so it seems set to go ahead.

Peel Energy, who proposed the power station plan, is not in a happy state. It has lost its Danish partner Dong Energy – and as if that were not enough, local birdwatcher Marco McGinty has brought a case against them for judicial review.