The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland has decided to appeal against the recent decision by the Inner House of the Court of Session which allowed further development of four wind projects in the Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay.
RSPB Scotland will start the process by applying to the Inner House for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
RSPB launched a legal challenge against the approval of four wind farms by the Scottish Ministers in January 2015, claiming that the projects pose ”too great a risk to the many thousands of resident and migratory seabirds.”
In July 2016, the Outer House of the Court of Session ruled in favour of RSPB and ordered the Scottish Ministers to reconsider the decisions to approve the four wind farms – Inch Cape, Seagreen Alpha, Seagreen Bravo and Neart na Gaoithe – and address concerns raised by the RSPB.
The Scottish Ministers lodged an appeal against this ruling in August 2016.
”RSPB Scotland has provided nearly a decade’s worth of expert scientific advice on these offshore wind projects, all to help deliver renewable energy generation while minimising impacts on Scotland’s internationally renowned and protected seabirds,” RSPB said.
”However, despite our efforts to help minimise the risks, these four projects were still predicted to have the potential to kill tens of thousands of seabirds over their lifetimes and were granted consent in October 2014.”