I have been in the Isle of Lewis for 21 years now, and things never seem to change. They are going to now in a major fashion. The local authority has granted planning permission in principle for the construction of an electricity converter station, just south of the Lews Castle Grounds near Macaulay Farm. This is near the turn-off for Arnish on the A859 road towards Tarbert. The electricity hub will convert the AC current, generated by on-shore and off-shore windturbines, to DC for transmission down a 50-mile subsea cable to the Scottish mainland. Landfall will be at Dundonnell, south of Ullapool, and the cable will continue further east towards Beauly, near Inverness.
The converter station will stretch a total of 400 yards, with buildings rearing up to 90 feet into the sky. It will be visible from far and wide, and basically turn that area of the island into an industrial wasteland.
Yesterday, I walked down to the Arnish Road, upon seeing reports that the double-tracking of that road had commenced. This is part of the project. It was not pretty, and I find it horrible to see vegetation stripped off the bedrock and diggers tearing up the land. Some call it progress. I don't really agree.
Who is going to benefit from those renewable energy projects? We are supposed to get £4.5m per annum in community benefit, except this will now be syphoned off into a Scotland-wide pot from whence we'll get zilch. Jobs? Just for a couple of years, and the majority of the work will be done by imported labour. These people will be housed in accommodation blocks at Willowglen and Sandwick - only to move away once the project is complete in 2031.
Another gripe. The landfall station for the offshore windfarm will be north of the Barvas Machair, in (what the developer admits is) challenging terrain. Initially, they referred to the machair as scrubland. It is in fact a protected habitat. But it's money that talks here. And government policy.
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