Meeting of the Parliament 09 June 2026 [Draft]
Yes, I quite agree, and the broader point that Liam McArthur makes around community capacity and resourcing is crucial. When communities enter into such engagements with developers, they often face quite technical, legalistic and financial discussions, for which many of them are, understandably, not prepared. Historically, we have seen a postcode lottery, with communities that have the existing capacities and volunteers—often, those who are retired and have the time to take on the substantial roles involved—able to excel while others get left behind. We must do a piece of work to broaden that out, and I hope that the Government would welcome that.
There are, however, significant barriers to repowering as things stand. NPF4 as it stands is inadequate; we need additional guidance that unlocks repowering and provides clarity and certainty to developers and community groups alike. Our strategic spatial energy plan needs to reflect our repowering potential and understand the opportunity that lies ahead of us, and we must update our onshore wind policy statement with a strategic focus on repowering so that we can deliver on that potential.
As we look ahead to the next five—and the next 25—years for our economy, let us make the right choices about growth and where our priorities lie. The Parliament has the chance to create generational change and transform the relationship between energy, our economy and our communities, and I urge the cabinet secretary to work with the Scottish Greens in doing so.