Plans for a controversial windfarm south of Inverness has been rejected.
Councillors had been recommended to grant planning permission for 13 wind
turbines at Tom nan Clach, Glenferness.
A site visit took place ahead of a planning meeting today and councillors
at the South Planning Area Committee unanimously voted against the windfarm.
Applicant Nanclach Limited already has permission to build 17 turbines at
the site after the Scottish Government approved the plans on appeal. It had
initially been rejected by Highland Council.
The decision went against public opinion, with 161 objections to the scheme
including the RSPB, which feared the wind farm would reduce the number of
breeding pairs of golden plover, and the John Muir Trust, which said the
area was already overloaded with wind farm developments.
Nanclach had wanted to scrap these plans and build 13 turbines, but larger.
The company claims that while there are fewer turbines, the overall “energy
yield” will increase by as much as 26 per cent.
Most of the site is part of Cawdor Estate, an area of moorland and bog
mainly used for grouse shooting, and the revised scheme includes access
tracks and a substation.
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