A MASSIVE Highland wind farm proposal which could make the Scottish
Conservatives’ environment spokesman more than £8 million has been damned
by the nation’s environment watchdog.
The proposed wind farm at Ardchonnel in Argyll would include 15 turbines,
364ft tallPhotograph: Marc Turner
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has warned that the huge Ardchonnel wind
farm in Argyll would have “significant adverse impacts” on local villages
and the skyline, spoiling the countryside “for residents and visitors
alike”. It also says the development is “out of scale” with the surrounding
landscape.
The Ardchonnel scheme, which is being developed by German energy firm RWE
Innogy, is on a 3500-acre estate owned by Tory MSP Sir Jamie McGrigor, who
stands to earn more than £300,000 a year in rent for 25 years if the
project goes ahead.
The scheme would see 15 turbines 111m (364ft) tall erected above Loch Awe,
generating up to 45 megawatts – enough to power 40% of the homes in the
Argyll and Bute Council area.
It has been denounced by dozens of McGrigor’s constituents, who fear it
will be a noisy eyesore and kill the local tourist trade.
The nearby hamlet of Dalavich could become a “ghost village”, residents
have warned.
McGrigor, 64, an Old Etonian baronet who has been a Highlands and Islands
list MSP since 1999, insists the project would help the local community and
provide jobs.
“The proposed location is in an area which has been identified as suitable
for a renewable development of this kind,” he told the Sunday Herald
earlier this month.
Although SNH has not formally objected to Ardchonnel, its official advice
is scathing.
In a submission last week to Argyll and Bute Council, which is handling the
planning application, SNH says the proposal “will have significant adverse
visual impacts” when viewed from some villages and parts of the loch.
The proposal is “not in keeping” with local wind farm advice, “nor Scottish
planning policy” it says.
If approved, the wind farm would become a “dominating feature in views from
Dalavich and Inverinan from where it will be overwhelming both horizontally
and vertically in the undulating skyline”.
It goes on: “A wind farm development of this scale is likely to undermine
the landscape experience of enjoying the countryside for residents and
visitors alike.
“We advise that this proposal is out of scale with the receiving landscape
and is likely to undermine the landscape character.”
Viewed from the north and north-west, Ardchonnel would be seen alongside
the smaller An Suidhe wind farm “creating a confusing image of differing
turbine sizes and rotations”.
Sited in an area used by six rare bird species – golden eagle, red throated
diver, white-tailed eagle, osprey, merlin and peregrine falcon – the
development would also “contribute to the degradation” of bird habitats in
Argyll.
Even with mitigation, “we consider that the impacts of the wind farm,
whilst reduced, will remain significant and adverse”, SNH concludes.
Argyll and Bute Council is due to consider the application before the end
of May.
In 2008, McGrigor signed a parliamentary motion demanding wind farms rules
to end “speculative applications … threatening scenic areas”.
However, in 2011 he struck a deal to let RWE erect a wind farm on land used
for sheep grazing. If the plan is approved, he would receive £7000 a year
for each megawatt of installed capacity, or £315,000 a year for the 45MW
proposed. Index-linked over the 25-year life of the turbines, that would
make him more than £8m.
RWE Innogy said: “SNH as statutory consultees have reviewed the application
and provided comments that we are now considering. However, SNH have not
objected to the development.”
McGrigor said: “While I understand that some object to this development,
there are many others who are very supportive, including two community
councils.
“It has the potential to be of substantial benefit to the community,
providing an annual income that will make the area more sustainable, while
providing valuable jobs.
“I’m reassured the appropriate environmental impact studies have been
carried out.”
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