by Iain Ramage
The leader of Highland Council yesterday declared “enough is enough” for
windfarm construction around Loch Ness.
Margaret Davidson and her colleagues rejected a proposal for 12 turbines to
add to hundreds already built within a 22-mile radius of the iconic spot.
She said the region had already surpassed a target for renewable energy
generation, and the cumulative effect of hundreds of massive wind schemes
circling the loch was threatening tourism.
Mrs Davidson, who represents a lochside ward, admitted she had come round
to agreeing with the objectors who have campaigned for years to halt the
spread of what have been dubbed the Loch Ness “monsters” sprouting up on
nearby hillsides.
She made the comments as the south area planning committee discussed RES’s
plans for the Aberarder Estate, close to the existing Dunmaglass scheme.
Barely half the committee was present for the discussion because few had
attended a site visit the previous day to qualify them for inclusion, as
other ward business had kept them busy in Badenoch and Nairn.
Concerned about the visual and cumulative impact of the latest 427ft tall
turbines, Mrs Davidson said: “We’ve more than met the targets we were set
in Highland around renewable energy generation. We’ve got more coming on
stream all the time and there are other potential ones.
“This will be visual for miles along the Great Glen Way which has around
20,000-30,000 users a year.”
She said she had previously considered a protest video produced last year
by the Friends of the Great Glen was an overstatement, but now agrees that
a “ring of steel” of huge turbines tightening its grip meant “enough is
enough.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Thomas Prag disagreed, insisting the Aberarder
project was “probably a good design as windfarms go because it uses the
contours and tries to blend with the ones behind.”
He argued that the visual impact “from most angles” was “actually not
significant.”
John Ford, a veteran Labour city councillor and a former engineer, told
colleagues that a better mix of electricity was required and that the
amount wind generated energy was excessive.
The location at Aberarder has no specific environmental designation, but
lies within 12 miles of 15 sites of special scientific interest, seven
special areas of conservation and four special protection areas.
RES believe they have designed a windfarm that would not be visible from
Loch Ness.
Considering whether they will appeal the decision, development manager John
Appleton said: “We’re disappointed. We worked extremely hard to ensure that
the windfarm was in line with planning policy and we consulted the local
community to bring forward a project that attracted few local objections.”
Jim Treasurer of the Friends of the Great Glen, which sponsored the Save
Loch Ness and the Great Glen petition to halt the spread of windfarms
within a 22-mile radius of the loch, was delighted.
He said: “We’re really pleased the council leader and committee members
recognise the genuine concerns about the potential impact of
over-development and the ruinous effect of over 500 wind turbines.
“Most of the Highlands has reached saturation point in onshore windfarm
development that destroys our most beautiful areas. It’s perverse to call
these developments ‘green’ when they could destroy the core attraction of
the lifeline Highland visitor economy.”
Jenny Hogan of the trade body Scottish Renewables said: “As Scotland moves
towards an increasingly low carbon economy in order to mitigate climate
change, it’s important that areas with the greatest renewable energy
resources play to their strengths.
“Renewables generate the equivalent of 57% of Scotland’s power needs, with
onshore wind making up more than half of this.”
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