"This is an extremely commendable decision by the Scottish Government that is absolutely right for Scotland. It sends a very strong message that in meeting our ambitious, and welcome, renewable targets we do not have to sacrifice our most important environmental resources. The Government has made it clear, in repeated statements on this issue, that renewables must be delivered, but not at any price.

There is clear evidence that we can meet our targets many times over without destroying our designated sites and most of the renewable energy industry operates on this principle. We hope that Lewis Wind Power now recognise that this is an inappropriate site for a wind farm and we seek reassurances from them that they will not simply seek to continue pushing modified versions of the same proposal in the same location. We are, however, very willing to work with them to identify new areas in Scotland that would be suitable for renewable energy development."