West of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Ross Finnie supported many of the concerns raised by members of the public about the proposed Multi-fuelled Power Station at Hunterston at last night's public meeting in Largs.
"I congratulate the organisers for setting up such an informative and well conducted meeting. I was pleased to listen to the wide range of concerns raised by local residents and to be able to make known my own serious reservations.
"We need to know why the Government didn't mention the possibility of including a Coal Fired Power Station at Hunterston in the National Planning Framework until after the consultation had closed We cant allow the new regulations for Coal Fired Power Stations to require less than 25% of the output is subject to carbon capture and we need to know what Emissions Performance Standards is to be set and how this links with the emission targets set out in the new Climate Change Act and finally, we need to know precisely how the proposal will impact on the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
"The proposal raises far too many environmental and technical questions that have to be answered convincingly before any thought of granting permission for this plant can be considered."
1. The public meeting was organised by local residents with support from Planning Democracy and the Environment Law Centre Scotland and was attended by around 200 concerned locals.
2. The proposed power station at Hunterston is for a multi-fuelled, predominately coal and potentially up to 15% biomass. The plant is to be built Carbon Capture Ready, which means that while the facility would be designed to incorporate Carbon Capture and Storage, it would not be installed until the technology has been shown to be technically and commercially viable.
