Early engagement
RES believes in meaningful and effective consultation and we aim to engage early with the local community and key stakeholders in order to facilitate constructive consultation. This helps to identify issues and concerns, as well as benefits and opportunities, which we can then consider when developing the design of the proposal.
In August 2022 we wrote to key stakeholders (including local Community Councils), as well as the closest properties to the turbine development area of the site, to introduce the project and confirm submission of the Scoping Report. Since then we have spoken and corresponded with representatives of the local Community Councils and responded to enquiries from local residents and other interested parties that have got in touch.
A project newsletter was also issued to over 1,700 properties in the local area at key milestones to help keep people informed about the project. For the last edition of our project newsletter please click here.
Public exhibitions
As part of our pre-application consultation we held a set of four public exhibitions in the local area in October 2022 to enable people to learn more about the project, discuss the proposal with our project team, and provide written feedback to RES on the initial early-stage design.
A range of information was made available, including visualisations which were prepared to NatureScot guidance and helped to give an impression of what the site could look like from different viewpoints in the area, and RES staff were on hand to discuss the proposal and answer any questions that people had. Our Report on Feedback provides a summary of the written feedback received from the October 2022 exhibitions and consultation period and explains any changes made to the design in response to this feedback.
RES held a final suite of four public exhibitions in June 2023 to present the updated design. These events provided people with an opportunity to review the updated design, speak with the project team, and ask questions.
These 2022 and 2023 public consultation events went well beyond the minimum requirements for pre-application consultation. The Pre-application Consultation Report (PAC), which accompanied the Section 36 application, provides further information.
Statutory consultation process
In November 2023 RES submitted a Section 36 application to Scottish Minsters for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 for a 16-turbine wind farm proposal at Hill of Fare in Aberdeenshire. Additional Information was submitted by RES in August 2024 in support of the application. A statutory consultation period was held by the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU), for each respective submission, to enable the public, as well as key consultees, to submit formal representations on the proposal. The statutory consultation period has now closed.