Developers are required to abide by the agreed planning conditions, which can cover such matters as operating hours, construction access, dust, noise, etc. Breaches of these conditions can be reported to the Local Planning Authority. In large energy developments, sometimes a third party Monitoring Officer is required via a planning condition.

The primary purpose of an ECoW is to minimise the ecological impact of construction activities by providing on-site supervision and expert advice. They act as the ecological ‘eyes and ears’ on a project, ensuring that developers and contractors adhere to environmental legislation, planning conditions, and mitigation measures designed to protect species, habitats, and ecosystems.

An ECoW is appointed by the Developer / Transmission owner (TO) if required in the project’s planning conditions and is approved by the Planning Authority. The ECoW is managed by, and is responsible to, the Developer or TO, but must be independent. The ECoW should review, advise and encourage best practice from the developer. ECoWs report into the council at agreed timelines about what is actually happening onsite and report any deviation from ‘best practice’ in terms of ecology protection.

For example, under Condition 12(c) of the Crystal Rig IV consent, the ECoW is required to submit a monthly report to the Planning Authority summarising works undertaken on site and any incidents of micrositing. These reports are submitted to the Planning Officer, who then shares them with the Council’s Biodiversity Officer for review.

The wording of the condition may vary between developments, depending on the nature of the proposal, the recommendations made at the time of determination, and any specific works that are required to be monitored by an ECoW. The scope of the ECoW’s role would also be agreed as part of the condition discharge/approval process.

ECoWs are independent from the projects and an accreditation scheme was established for these roles in 2025 by CIEEM, a professional membership body representing and supporting ecologists and environmental managers in the UK.

In Scotland, large-scale wind farm developments are heavily scrutinized by the local councils and governing bodies. Local authorities and the Energy Consents Unit frequently condition consents on the appointment of an independent Planning Monitoring Officer (PMO).

The PMO Role

The PMO’s primary function is to act as an independent “watchdog” on the construction site to ensure compliance with the complex planning conditions, environmental statements, and legal agreements. Their specific responsibilities include:

• Compliance Auditing: Undertaking regular site visits to cross-reference physical construction activities with the approved Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), traffic management plans, and turbine delivery paths.
• Enforcement Triggering: Identifying breaches of planning conditions and logging formal non-compliances.
• Transparency: Compiling objective compliance summary reports that are reviewed by the local council.

The PMO’s reporting structure is intentionally designed to maintain strict independence, avoiding conflicts of interest:

• The PMO answers directly to the relevant local Council Planning Department or Energy Consents Unit. They act as the council’s “eyes and ears” on the ground.
• The Funding: Even though the PMO answers directly to the planning authority, their fees are almost always reimbursed by the developer.

The governing bodies may request the appointment of the PMO with the following terms:

 (a) impose a duty to monitor compliance with the terms of the deemed planning permission and the conditions attached to it;

(b) require the PMO to submit a monthly report to the Planning Authority summarising works undertaken on site;

(c) require the PMO to report to the Planning Authority any incidences of non-compliance with the terms of the deemed planning permission and conditions attached to it at the earliest practical opportunity.

East Lothian Council’s Enforcement Officer deals with any reports of breaches in planning conditions. Reports can be made by anyone, including members of the public and should be directed to the Enforcement Officer via environment@eastlothian.gov.uk, who would usually seek to resolve the matter informally before opening an enforcement case, depending on the nature of the breach.

The East Lammermuir Energy Projects Partnership is in the process of establishing a “reporting portal” which can be used by local residents to report any issues relating to the construction of the energy developments that could be resolved informally by the developers or transmission owners.

Reports will be received by all energy projects under construction and responses tracked by the Energy Projects Partnership Manager, Beth Landon.

The reporting portal should be available on the East Lammermuir Developments website in summer 2026.

In the meantime please contact the relevant project representative and / or beth@elep.scot

If you prefer you can contact the projects directly, although using the reporting portal mentioned above will help us to track response rate and identify recurring themes to inform mitigation measures.

All contacts can be found here.

Ongoing issues can be reported to the following contacts:

• road conditions or safety on non-trunk roads: roadservices@eastlothian.gov.uk
• road closures or traffic management on non-trunk roads: roadworks@eastlothian.gov.uk
• access issues:  nmorgan@eastlothian.gov.uk