Monday May 11th 2026
Ditcher Law site
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Scottish Borders Council is seeking a judicial review over the go-ahead for a huge wind farm.
The council has lodged an application for a review of the Scottish Energy Consents Unit’s decision to approve the Ditcher Law wind farm planning application.
Scottish Ministers gave approval for the eight-turbine scheme, located north of Oxton, in February this year.
The wind farm was opposed by both Scottish Borders Council and Heriot Community Council, due to its significant adverse impacts on the landscape and the Lammermuir Hills Special Landscape Area.
The application includes plans for eight turbines, five of which will be 200m high, and a battery energy storage system.
The Ditcher Law application was submitted to the Energy Consents Unit, which handles applications for electricity stations over 500MW, on September 15, 2023.
But the developer did not submit important additional information, including an impact study, until April 10 last year and a deadline for comments on the new information was then set for May 16, just five weeks later.
SBC advised that it would be unable to review the new information for several months, due to a massive backlog in Section 36 applications, but its call for an extension to the deadline was rejected.
ECU later ruled that the concern raised by the council was made too late in the application process.
The council’s petition to the Court of Session for a judicial review was lodged last week, on the grounds that the likely significant impacts of the proposed development’s connection to the electricity grid was not assessed and therefore not considered by the Energy Consents Unit in reaching their decision.
This is in keeping with a decision of the Court of Session from February this year in favour of Raeshaw Farms Ltd, which related to the proposed Wull Muir wind farm development, near Heriot.
David Robertson, Chief Executive of Scottish Borders Council, said: “The decision to seek a judicial review regarding approval of this development has not been taken lightly.
“Prior to taking this step we have sought specialist legal opinion and have also engaged with relevant elected members across the political spectrum.
“An update will be provided to the Full Council meeting on 21 May.”
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