East Lothian Conservatives have given their enthusiastic backing to a raft of new energy polices unveiled this week by the Scottish Conservatives. The wide-ranging review of policies includes:
-a reduction in the number onshore wind farms.-a reduction in wind farms subsidies by 50% in an effort to limit household bills.-councils to be given the power to impose a one year moratorium on new wind turbine developments.-homeowners should be allowed to claim compensation if the value of their property has dropped because of wind turbine developments.Welcoming the new proposals, Conservative Group leader and Deputy Council leader, Councillor Michael Veitch, said:"East Lothian is arguably the energy generation capital of Scotland, and it is therefore essential that we be at forefront of the energy policy debate going forward. I believe many local people will welcome these sensible and pragmatic policies developed by the Scottish Conservatives, which would go some way to undoing the creeping industrialisation of our countryside under the SNP."Scottish Conservatives believe in a balanced energy mix, with less emphasis on the further development of onshore wind turbines and instead better support for alternative renewables, increasing unconventional gas exploration and new nuclear power stations to replace Torness and Hunterston."At a local level, the new Council administration are committed to the tougher regulation of wind turbines, and will bringing forward our plans in due course."