Communities Opposed to New Coal at Hunterston

Ayrshire Power's Proposals

The billionaire tax-exile behind the Hunterston coal plan

John Whittaker, the man behind Ayrshire Power, is a billionaire tax exile, backed by Saudi oil money, living on the Isle of Man.
The Peel group of over 100 companies is c.25%-owned by the Saudi Olayan family and has assets valued at over £4.5 billion.
Read more

Consultation – what consultation?

There will be no public meetings held by Ayrshire Power before they lodge their planning application. Their only direct ‘consultation’ with the public was four exhibitions in early October, three of which were held on working days.

This is what they told us:

“We have made a strategic decision not to have any public meetings ....... apart from four exhibitions there will be no public events before the planning application is lodged.” Ayrshire Power, Project Director, Largs 3/10/09

yet this is what their newsletter says…

“Most importantly we are committed to consultation and constructive dialogue before submitting our planning application....” Ayrshire Power Newsletter, issue 2

... Just fancy that!

Note from the Webmistress:

On 30th October I emailled Peel on the enquiry email address given on their website, asking exactly where they were intending to source their coal. Having got no reply, I emailled again on 8th November. Still no reply as of 18th January. I will update this if they get back to me.

Ayrshire Power exhibition at Largs

Planning Democracy Survey

Planning Democracy wants people who attended the recent public exhibitions organised by Ayrshire Power to give feedback as part of their ongoing work to monitor the fairness of the current planning system. You can complete a short survey online at Survey Monkey or get in touch with Clare for more details

The Proposals for a new Coal-fired Power Station at Hunterston

Ayrshire Power Limited is a new company that was orignally formed by Peel Energy and Denmark's 73% state-owned DONG Energy to develop plans for a new 1600 MW coal power station at Hunterston.
DONG Energy have since pulled out of the project

The proposed development will cover 236 acres (95ha) and would involve infilling large areas of valuable wildlife habitat.This equates to an area roughly the size of 148 football pitches. The site includes areas which are designated as SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest).

The coal station will be visible from miles around and its pollution will spread even further. Its many buildings will include:

two boiler houses (115m high x 6.15m x 70m)
air emission stack (chimney) 152m high – almost 500ft
two fly ash silos (20m x 75m)

The whole development will consist of:

coal fired power station and fuel storage yard
biomass/gas fired power station
carbon capture infrastructure
container transhipment hub
maritime construction and decomissioning yard
downstream industrial processes
associated environmental works

Plan - 20-8-09 Peel's Proposed Site Plan as at 20.8.09

Colombian Coal -
Human rights issues

A US company, Drummond, arrived in Colombia in 1987. It obtained a claim to exploit coal in a region of ten thousand hectares in Cesar province.
In 1995, when the shaft was opened, the workers, because of the company’s pressures and violations of their rights, became unionized in order to resist. This is an open-pit mine. When they took away the top layer of land to get down to where the coal is, the communities living in the areas surrounding the mine were displaced. Moreover, the water sources in those areas were removed/obstructed, so the ecosystem changed as well.
The struggle of workers against these multinationals resulted in the murder of four trade unionists in 2001. As soon as the multinationals arrived, they became acquainted with politicians and the powerful families of the area. These families were also related to the paramilitary groups. The killings took place during our struggle to improve working conditions. Read more
Drummond sued over slain Colombian unionists

The proposed coal station will burn 3.3M tonnes of coal each year, all of which will be imported from countries such as Russia and Colombia. According to their own figures it will produce 445,000 tonnes of ash per year. Approximately 48 cubic metres of cooling water would be re-circulated into the Clyde, equating to 4,000,000m³ per day.

Once built the coal station will employ around 150 people

The coal station is phase one of a much bigger “Clydeport Masterplan” for the area, which has been added to the National Planning Framework without any public consultation.

Also proposed is a maritime construction and decommissioning yard, a container trans-shipment hub and several other industrial processes. According to their Masterplan “it is envisaged that waste ash from the coal station could be reused to form land platforms for these later phases of the development.”


> The Proposal Home About CONCH Coal Station Proposal Contact us Help CONCH Donate CONCH Meetings Public Events Press Releases CONCH in the Media Info (Open Access) Links	Communities Opposed to New Coal at Hunterston Ayrshire Power's Proposals The billionaire tax-exile behind the Hunterston coal plan John Whittaker, the man behind Ayrshire Power, is a billionaire tax exile, backed by Saudi oil money, living on the Isle of Man. The Peel group of over 100 companies is c.25%-owned by the Saudi Olayan family and has assets valued at over £4.5 billion. Read more Consultation – what consultation? There will be no public meetings held by Ayrshire Power before they lodge their planning application. Their only direct ‘consultation’ with the public was four exhibitions in early October, three of which were held on working days. This is what they told us: “We have made a strategic decision not to have any public meetings ....... apart from four exhibitions there will be no public events before the planning application is lodged.” Ayrshire Power, Project Director, Largs 3/10/09 yet this is what their newsletter says… “Most importantly we are committed to consultation and constructive dialogue before submitting our planning application....” Ayrshire Power Newsletter, issue 2 ... Just fancy that! Note from the Webmistress: On 30th October I emailled Peel on the enquiry email address given on their website, asking exactly where they were intending to source their coal. Having got no reply, I emailled again on 8th November. Still no reply as of 18th January. I will update this if they get back to me. Ayrshire Power exhibition at Largs Planning Democracy Survey Planning Democracy wants people who attended the recent public exhibitions organised by Ayrshire Power to give feedback as part of their ongoing work to monitor the fairness of the current planning system. You can complete a short survey online at Survey Monkey or get in touch with Clare for more details The Proposals for a new Coal-fired Power Station at Hunterston Ayrshire Power Limited is a new company that was orignally formed by Peel Energy and Denmark's 73% state-owned DONG Energy to develop plans for a new 1600 MW coal power station at Hunterston. DONG Energy have since pulled out of the project The proposed development will cover 236 acres (95ha) and would involve infilling large areas of valuable wildlife habitat.This equates to an area roughly the size of 148 football pitches. The site includes areas which are designated as SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). The coal station will be visible from miles around and its pollution will spread even further. Its many buildings will include: two boiler houses (115m high x 6.15m x 70m) air emission stack (chimney) 152m high – almost 500ft two fly ash silos (20m x 75m) The whole development will consist of: coal fired power station and fuel storage yard biomass/gas fired power station carbon capture infrastructure container transhipment hub maritime construction and decomissioning yard downstream industrial processes associated environmental works *Peel's Proposed Site Plan as at 20.8.09* Colombian Coal - Human rights issues A US company, Drummond, arrived in Colombia in 1987. It obtained a claim to exploit coal in a region of ten thousand hectares in Cesar province. In 1995, when the shaft was opened, the workers, because of the company’s pressures and violations of their rights, became unionized in order to resist. This is an open-pit mine. When they took away the top layer of land to get down to where the coal is, the communities living in the areas surrounding the mine were displaced. Moreover, the water sources in those areas were removed/obstructed, so the ecosystem changed as well. The struggle of workers against these multinationals resulted in the murder of four trade unionists in 2001. As soon as the multinationals arrived, they became acquainted with politicians and the powerful families of the area. These families were also related to the paramilitary groups. The killings took place during our struggle to improve working conditions. Read more Drummond sued over slain Colombian unionists The proposed coal station will burn 3.3M tonnes of coal each year, all of which will be imported from countries such as Russia and Colombia. According to their own figures it will produce 445,000 tonnes of ash per year. Approximately 48 cubic metres of cooling water would be re-circulated into the Clyde, equating to 4,000,000m³ per day. Once built the coal station will employ around 150 people The coal station is phase one of a much bigger “Clydeport Masterplan” for the area, which has been added to the National Planning Framework without any public consultation. Also proposed is a maritime construction and decommissioning yard, a container trans-shipment hub and several other industrial processes. According to their Masterplan “it is envisaged that waste ash from the coal station could be reused to form land platforms for these later phases of the development.”
For more information, contact the CONCH campaign.

> The Proposal