By Scott McAngus
A wind turbine plan that got the green light at a district beauty spot has
caused a storm of protests from nearby residents.
Falkirk Council has given the go-ahead for a 45-metre high turbine on land
to the east of Castlehill Farm which borders Muiravonside Country Park.
But residents in Muiravonside Loan have criticised the planning process,
claiming no notice was given to anyone about the proposals by applicant
Intelligent Land Investments Ltd until permission was granted.
Changes to national planning rules mean councils only need to notify anyone
living within 20 metres of a site. But with no one living that close,
locals didn’t know about it.
They say the turbine will be a blight on the landscape and will have an
adverse effect on local wildlife.
They vowed to fight the decision “all the way”.
Wilma Morton, who owns Castlehill Farm with husband David, said: “The first
we heard of it was when one of our workers saw three men in our field and
asked what they were doing.
“It feels a bit underhand how this has gone through and everyone is very
angry. We objected to it three years ago when we were notified and it
didn’t get passed, but now it has gone through because no one knew about it.”
“It will be a 150-foot monstrosity and everyone living here will fight this
all the way to the Scottish Government.”
The council’s head of planning and transportation John Angell said the
application was considered in line with both national and local planning
policy and would not have an adverse impact on the landscape.
He added: “While we need to work within the planning legislation and
guidelines we do have concerns that the regulations for neighbour
notification of wind turbine applications do not extend far enough. We have
written to the Scottish Government asking them to consider amending these
procedures to allow us to notify premises within a wider area of wind
turbine applications.”
The Scottish Government did not respond in time for comment.
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