Windfarm comments deadline extended by 28 days

Campaigners have won their fight for more time to comment on the controversial Viking windfarm planning application.

The Viking Energy Partnership has agreed on Thursday afternoon to double the period by 28 days, setting a new deadline of 28th July.

The extension was expected following complaints to the Scottish Government that the original 30th June cut-off point for public comments was unfair for such a large and controversial project.

Earlier this week Shetland’s MP Alistair Carmichael and MSP Tavish Scott backed a call by the campaign group Sustainable Shetland for an extension.

Sustainable Shetland chairman Billy Fox had criticised the initial 28-day response period as inadequate given the vast amounts of information included in the windfarm environmental statement, which took five years to compile and was only published just over two weeks ago.