Rural communities across southern Scotland are coming together to challenge the Scottish government over major renewable energy developments. Leaders from the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, and South Lanarkshire met at Jedburgh Town Hall to plan coordinated action and amplify local voices.
Highlands Councillor Helen Crawford, a key figure in the movement, warned that rapid growth of wind farms, solar parks, battery storage facilities, and electricity substations is putting rural landscapes at risk. What started as a few small projects a decade ago has become a surge of large-scale developments that many residents feel threaten the character of their countryside.
The appeal called for a planning inquiry and a temporary halt on all major renewable energy applications. A similar effort from the North East has already reached the Scottish government. At the Jedburgh convention, leaders agreed to draft a unified statement for the South of Scotland over the coming months. Bob Hope, chair of Leitholm, Eccles, and Birgham Community Council, said the government had promised to listen to local communities.
