The refusal of fewer but higher wind turbines at the site of a
controversial wind farm planned near Tomatin has been welcomed by objectors.
Members of Highland Council’s south planning applications committee
unanimously rejected the application by Nanclach Ltd on Tuesday, following
a site visit the previous day, despite being recommended by their own
planners to back the revised scheme.
There had been 161 objections to the new scheme, including submissions from
community councils in Grantown, Strathdearn, Carrbridge and Dulnain Bridge,
the RSPB and the John Muir Trust.
Nanclach won consent for 17 turbines of 110 metres in height at the
location in July, 2013, and has a grid connection date earmarked for 2018.
The revised scheme would have 13 turbines of 125 metres in height.
Anti-wind farm campaigner Pat Wells, who lives in Tomatin, said: “We
welcome the unanimous decision by the South Planning Committee to refuse
the revised ‘repowering’ planning application for Tom nan Clach wind farm
on the Dava Moor hills between Strathdearn and Lochindorb.
“The original plan for 17 smaller turbines sited as a compact group is
visually intrusive in the wild landscape of Dava Moor but the revised plan
is much worse.
“The turbines are 15 metres higher with significantly larger blades which
when rotating, will have a far greater visual impact.
The wind farm would fall within Highland Council’s designated Drynachan,
Lochindorb and Dava Moor Special Landscape Area.
“If the application had been approved it would have seen councillors riding
roughshod over the authority’s own designation and would have set a very
unfortunate precedent.
“It was encouraging to hear councillors supporting the views of ordinary
people for whom the Dava is a very special place rather than conceding to
the possibility of their decision being overturned by an unelected
government employee at appeal.
“It’s time Scotland came in line with England in refusing approval for wind
farm developments where local communities object to their lives and
landscapes being blighted by these industrial-scale power stations.”
Badenoch and Strathspey Highland councillor Bill Lobban proposed the
refusal at the meeting in the council chambers in Inverness.
He told the Strathy afterwards: “I feel sure the public will appreciate the
fact that members of Highland Council unanimously, yet again, rejected what
must be seen as one of the worst ever examples of the wrong development in
the wrong place.
“The Dava Moor, with Lochindorb Castle as its centrepiece, is a very
special place, and deserves to be protected from inappropriate development.
“The original decision by the DPEA Reporter to overturn the previous
unanimous refusal was quite simply unfathomable, and unquestionably wrong
in every respect.
“Had this application been approved, it would have been immeasurably worse
than the previous application.”
The John Muir Trust had expressed its concerns to planners about the
overdevelopment along the Cairngorms National Park boundary, claiming it
was leading to a very significant ‘ringing effect’.
Renewable energy company Infinergy – commenting on behalf of the partners
forming Nanclach Limited – said it was bitterly disappointed by the
decision, and was considering its options to appeal the decision.
Esbjorn Wilmar, managing director of Infinergy, said: “This redesign
provides an opportunity to greatly increase the renewable electricity
generated on the site.
“Compared to the initially consented scheme, the slightly larger turbine
means a reduction in the number required and therefore a reduction in the
infrastructure on site, but more importantly, increases the predicted
energy produced by the wind farm by approximately 26%.
“This means that nearly 20,000 more homes could be supplied with renewable
energy, as well as 15,000 more tonnes of CO2 being saved per year of
operation, which is expected to be 25 years. It beggars belief that during
the debate, councillors did not consider this point at all.
“They don’t seem to be interested in the slightest in the opportunity to
generate more renewable energy from an already consented site. With the
positive milestone of signing the Paris agreement, it is sometimes hard to
see how we can deliver on the local level.”
The application to ‘repower’ with the 13 larger turbines was submitted to
Highland Council in August last year.
There are 10 other wind farms either already in operation or approved in
the vicinity, including Farr (12km from Tom nan Clach); Moy (5km); Glen
Kyllachy (12km); Dunmaglass (25km); Berryburn (23km) and Paul’s Hill (25km).
Access to the site would be from a new junction on the B9007 via a road
around 18 km in length, involving the construction of seven new watercourse
crossings.
The wind farm site lies approximately eight kilometres north-east of
Tomatin. Most of the site is part of Cawdor Estate, on an area of
undulating moorland and blanket bog used mainly for grouse shooting.
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